Pigs in the Neolithic of the Eastern Fertile Crescent: New evidence from Pre‐Pottery Neolithic Bestansur and Shimshara, Iraqi Kurdistan (7800–7100 BC)

Abstract

AbstractPigs are one of the earliest domesticated livestock species, first domesticated at least 10,000 years ago. The domestication of wild boar, including associated morphological changes, is a long process over several millennia. Across Southwest Asia, management, domestication, and the adaption of the different livestock species was a highly localized process, influenced by both cultural and environmental factors.This paper explores the size, age, and diet of the suids of the Pre‐Pottery Neolithic sites of Bestansur and Shimshara in order to further our understanding of the origins of suid management in the Neolithic Eastern Fertile Crescent. Our data suggest that the relationship between wild boar and humans was more complex than a strict hunter–prey relationship. This study demonstrates that the Neolithic in the Zagros was not uniform in the adaption and exploitation of different animals.