Pig Sacrifice Research Articles

Slaughterhouse tours in Denmark: Affective nationalism in the making of citizen‐consumers and the industrial slaughter of happy pigs

AbstractThis article examines how tours of an industrial pig slaughterhouse reinforce the continued enfoldment of Danish pigs into the fabrication of Danish national identity, an enfoldment that underpins the formulation of subjects, human as well as more‐than‐human. A discourse analysis that weaves ethnographic moments from the tours and tour narratives along with historical and literary influences on Danish national identity and current debates on “Danishness” explores how narrativizing industrial slaughter is a means of formulating subjects that are sustained by agricultural histories, existential texts, and fairy tales. Through “humanizing” slaughterhouse conditions, tour guides are performing a kind of affective and pedagogical labor that produces modernist subjects, from the citizen‐consumer to that of the happy pig. In consuming happy Danish pigs, citizen‐consumers consolidate what it means to be Danish as they tacitly accept the industrial sacrifice of pigs, whose lives are worthy of living but crucially, also, worthy of taking. This work demonstrates how a multispecies awareness can enrich our understanding of the complex, unstable, and inseparable emergence of value production, nationhood, and capitalist subjects.

Aid from the Elf-Ruler: Line 1314a and the Pre-Christian Antecedents of Beowulf

Abstract: Line 1314b of Beowulf is regularly emended to “alwalda” (Ruler of All) from the manuscript form “alf walda” (Ruler of Elves). But the other instances of “alwalda” in Beowulf do not have visible space between the l and the w , and no plausible motivation for the addition of an f and a space has been proposed if the exemplar read “alwalda.” We contend, therefore, that MS “alf walda” is correct, and that the compound refers to the pre-Christian deity Yngvi-Freyr (to use the more familiar Norse name) rather than to the Christian God. We note that in the same passage in which “alf walda” appears, the Danes are called the “Ingwine” (friends/followers of Ing) and that later in the poem Hrothgar’s daughter is named “Freawaru” (watchful care of Freyr). Connecting this material with archaeological finds at Gamle Lejre that indicate the sacrifice of pigs (Freyr’s sacred animal), the place name Hleiðra (“the place of the tent”), and the statement in line 175 that the Danes made sacrifices “æt hærgtrafum” (at the pagan tabernacles), we argue that “alf walda” is part of a larger pattern of connections between the Danes in Beowulf and pre-Christian Germanic practices that appear to have been understood by one of Beowulf’ s sources (and perhaps by the Beowulf -poet) but which were opaque to later scribes.

The role of local pigs for economic and socio-cultural in East Flores District, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Abstract. Keray AS, Widiati R, Kusumastuti TA. 2024. The role of local pigs for economic and socio-cultural in East Flores District, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 25: 214-222. This study was conducted to identify the cultural activities related to swine rearing in East Flores District and analyze the decision making in choosing the types of rearing practice. Based on the survey using questionnaires from 120 pig farmers, which was conducted purposive, were those who had at least three sows for breeding, fattening with five heads of pigs, and combined with sows and sires. To identify the role of local pigs, as many as 3 informants consist of traditional leaders, farmers, and Agriculture Extension Officers, and analyzed by multinomial logistic regression model. The results showed that the traditional rituals that required the sacrifice of pigs included the ceremonies marking the start of building residential and traditional community buildings and dowry (belis) presentation in a wedding ceremony. The decision-making in choosing the rearing practice was influenced by pig ownership, care system (P<0.01), and income (P<0.05). Farmers who have small scale will choose extensive and fattening systems to reduce feed costs. Those practicing breeding are still maintaining local breeds because traditional rituals require it. Further efforts are needed to increase the populations of local breeds as well as cross-bred pigs to maintain the ceremonies in traditional rituals and income generation.

Transcriptomics and Selection Pressure Analysis Reveals the Influence Mechanism of PLIN1 Protein on the Development of Small Size in Min Pigs.

Body size is an important biological phenotypic trait that has attracted substantial attention. Small domestic pigs can serve as excellent animal models for biomedicine and also help meet sacrificial culture needs in human societies. Although the mechanisms underlying vertebral development regulating body size variation in domestic pigs during the embryonic period have been well described, few studies have examined the genetic basis of body size variation in post embryonic developmental stages. In this study, seven candidate genes-PLIN1, LIPE, PNPLA1, SCD, FABP5, KRT10 and IVL-significantly associated with body size were identified in Min pigs, on the basis of weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and most of their functions were found to be associated with lipid deposition. Six candidate genes except for IVL were found to have been subjected to purifying selection. PLIN1 had the lowest ω value (0.139) and showed heterogeneous selective pressure among domestic pig lineages with different body sizes (p < 0.05). These results suggested that PLIN1 is an important genetic factor regulating lipid deposition and consequently affecting body size variation in pigs. The culture of whole pig sacrifice in Manchu during the Qing Dynasty in China might have contributed to the strong artificial domestication and selection of Hebao pigs.

Beyond Skin-deep: Considering the pig in ancient Greece through the particularities of its skin

The complexity of the pig in Greek antiquity can be traced through the rich vocabulary applied to various porcine animals. This extends to cultural, religious, and symbolic meanings imbedded into the perceived anomalousness of this animal. The religious and ideological role of the pig in antiquity and beyond has been widely studied, but little scholarly attention has been paid to the skin of the animal in ancient studies. In this article pigskin is discussed on two levels, namely practical and conceptual/symbolic. The starting point is the fact that the structure of pigskin is different in comparison to any other mammal skin (with the exception of human skin). The overall purpose is to provide new insights into the skin as an explanatory category which can contribute towards our understanding of the treatment of pigs in Greek antiquity as well as the attitudes towards them and the esteem in which they were held. In the first part of the article the terminological issues pertaining to pigs and pigskin are scrutinised; in the second part sacrificial procedures are looked at more closely through a comparison between a pig sacrifice and a ‘standard’ sacrifice of a non-porcine animal, with a focus on flaying and singeing; in the third part the negative connotations of pigskin as diseased and ‘lepraic’ are considered. Finally, this leads to the last part of the article which considers the socio-cultural and historiographical association of leprosy with pig(skin) as a reason for cultural and social exclusion.

Inka sacrificial guinea pigs from Tambo Viejo, Peru

AbstractEarly Spaniards reported that the Inkas periodically slaughtered hundreds of animals, guinea pigs being the most common sacrificial animals. It is stated that in a single ceremony, hundreds of guinea pigs were killed. Although the ethnohistorical accounts provide good information about the Inka motivations for guinea pig sacrifice, archaeologically, the occurrence of large numbers of sacrificed guinea pigs had not been found. Recent research conducted at the Inka site of Tambo Viejo, in the Acari Valley of the Peruvian south coast, encountered several dozens of sacrificed guinea pigs that overall represent the single largest find known for the entire former Inka territory. In preparation for sacrifice, some of guinea pigs had been adorned with colorful strings that were placed as earrings as well with colorful necklaces also made from colorful strings. Some of the guinea pigs were also enveloped in a rug before burial. Similar evidence is unknown from anywhere within the former Inka territory, making the evidence from Tambo Viejo unparalleled.

3:46 PM Abstract No. 218 - ■ FEATURED ABSTRACTTargeting and recanalization with rapidly resorbable microspheres versus gelatin sponge particles in a pig kidney model

Purpose Resorbable embolization microspheres (REM) must have a time of resorption quick enough to provide a functional recanalization, and to avoid chronic vascular remodeling. We synthesized calibrated REM that resorbed in less than 24 hours and evaluated the performances of REM of 3 sizes (300-500μm, 500-700μm, and 700-900μm) in terms of targeting and recanalization, by comparison to handcut 1mm gelatin sponge particles (GSP). Materials and Methods Eight pigs underwent polar renal artery embolization with either REM of the 3 sizes or GSP. Angiograms were recorded before embolization, 10 minutes and before pig sacrifice 1 week after embolization. On each angiogram, the number of opacified segments of arteries at each bifurcation level was quantified. We analyzed the partition of the opacified segments and determined the level of occlusion, the percentage of occlusion and the recanalization rate for each product. In pathology, the distribution of GSP was assessed. Results REM 300-500μm occluded distal vessels, in interlobular arterioles in the deep cortex. REM 500-700μm and 700-900μm located more proximally, in the junctional arteries which are anastomotic arteries located at the junction between medulla and cortex. GSP occluded the interlobar arteries, proximally. At D7, recanalization rate of the larger REM was 105%, whereas for the two smaller sizes (500-700μm and 300-500μm) it was respectively 62% and 57%. GSP recanalized at 79%. Conclusion Embolizations with calibrated REM were successful and enabled a precise targeting of the occlusion. REM of different sizes targeted different levels of occlusion in kidney arteries. Within less than one week REM were completely resorbed, left no residual material and inflammation and the arteries recanalized between 60% and 100%. By comparison, handcut GSP provided a variable level of occlusion without actual targeting. They were partly degraded and accompanied by a foreign body reaction and the recanalization rate was important but never complete.

Pigs Hearts and Human Bodies: A Cultural Approach to Xenotransplantation

Animals have a significant presence in human lives, with many human interactions involving animals. This role of animals in social life, however, has largely been ignored and marginalised. In the words of Tovey (197), "to read most sociological texts, one might never know that society is populated by non-human as well as human animals". Human-animal relations are evident in everyday human uses of animals as companions, pets, meat sources, and entertainment. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does demonstrate how humans create and perpetuate systems of human/animal difference which are, at times, contradictory and ambivalent. There are no consistencies in how humans view and understand animal bodies. These differences matter, as they have serious consequences for how humans view and treat animals. It also has dire consequences for animals. While humans and animals are different species, we still live together, co-evolve, and create shared histories. We are, in the words of Haraway, companion species. This exposes that animals are not just nature, but culture.

Das Opfern des Schweins in der baltischen Tradition&lt;br&gt;Žrtvovanje svinje v baltskem izročilu&lt;/br&gt;

/Pig Sacrifice in Baltic Traditions/The article analyzes pig sacrifice and the use of pork as a ritual dish in customs connected with sowing and practiced by descendants of the Prussians. The author explores the custom, which has been described by various sources and practiced in East Prussia in the second half of 17th – century, in relation to the data collected by Lithuanian ethnographers of the 20th century that link the pig to various agrarian processes.Performed during the sewing period and often employing pig parts such as the head, legs, or the tail, the practice may be explained as an echo of sacrificing a pig to the earth and to Žemyna, the goddess of wheat who personifies the earth. It may be presumed that Žemyna had the same function as Demeter had for the Greeks and Ceres and Tellus for the Romans.

Denying the gift

This article takes up the well-known `obligation of a return' suggested by Marcel Mauss. Through material from Ambrym Island, Vanuatu, Central Melanesia, we get a view of how the ceremonial process, and the sacrifice of pigs especially, builds on a distinction between `giving' and `exchanging'. Supported by the phenomenological approach taken by Derrida on the gift as well as recent ethnographies parallel to the Ambrym case, the argument is that this very opposition is the driving force of the ceremonial process. It is argued that the sacrifice of pigs is about transforming gifts into reciprocity and thus the creation of autonomous persons.

Pigs at the Gate: Hittite Pig Sacrifice in its Eastern Mediterranean Context

AbstractThe consumption of pork in Hittite Anatolia is unlikely to have been a simple matter of geography or ethnicity, but was governed by a complex set of principles involving determiners like status, gender, and the level of cultic influence from religious sanctuaries. On the few occasions that the Hittite texts refer directly to eating pork, the context is highly ritualized, suggesting that special religious significance was sometimes attached to the eating of pig's flesh. Further, drawing on evidence from the societies surrounding the Mediterranean basin, a case can be made for the private nature of pig sacrifice in Hittite Anatolia. They were killed to ensure the wellbeing of the community and the fertility of humans and crops. A festival performed in Istanuwa to reaffirm the human-divine relationship may parallel the practice of sacrificing a pig at the ratification of treaties in the classical world. Finally, this animal's unique place among the domesticates extends to its role as a substitute for humans, a ritual motif that can be found throughout the Mediterranean in antiquity.

Staple Finance, Ritual Pig Sacrifice, and Ideological Power in Ancient Hawai'i

This article explores the role of ritual pig sacrifice in Hawai'i from an archaeological perspective, tracing political change through time. Hawai'i represents an interesting case study of how insular tropical environments dictate unique solutions to problems of social control. Results indicate that staple foods, in the absence of other wealth items, can become imbued with distinctive political values for materializing power relationships and shaping discrete politico‐economic realities. The late but rapid rise of ceremonial pig sacrifice generated a corresponding economic demand for pigs, resulting in pork becoming an elite commodity and status food, further strengthening its economic and political value among the Hawai'ian elite.

To Sing with Pigs is Human: The Concept of Person in Papua New Guinea.

In the course of her fieldwork with the Kaulong, who live on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea, Jane Goodale recognized that everything of importance to them - every event, relationship, and transaction - was rooted in their constant quest for recognition as human beings. She addresses here questions central to Kaulong society: What is it that makes an individual human? How is humanity, or personhood, achieved and maintained? In their consuming concern with their status as human beings, the Kaulong mark progress on a continuum from nonhuman (animal-like) to the most respected level of humanity - the political big men and big women. Knowledge is the key to movement along the continuum, and acquiring, displaying, and defending knowledge are at the heart of social interaction. At all-night singsings, individuals compete through song in their knowledge of people, places, and many other aspects of their forested world. The sacrifice of pigs and distribution of pork to guests completes the ceremonial display and defense of knowledge and personhood. Goodale's analysis of songs and their ritual context adds unusual depth to the ethnography.

Monumentality and the Rise of Religious Authority in Precontact Hawai'i [and Comments and Reply

Changes in temple labor investment and sacrificial offerings indicate that the rise in religious authority of the Hawaiian chiefly hierarchy correlates with an increase in political centralization and the intensifying role of the chief as divine intermediary through time. Initially, temples were small public courts akin to traditional Polynesian shrines used to reaffirm genealogical ties. During a period of internecine warfare and political instability and conflict in the I5th century A.D., temples became extremely large, a practical symbol of the burgeoning power of elites as they used ritual labor obligations to reaffirm chiefly genealogical relationships and enhance class cooperation. After island unification in the i6th century, chiefly religious activity shifted to sacrificial ceremonies and the consumption of surplus goods and foodstuffs as a result of status competition. By the time of European contact in the igth century, divinely sanctified rituals associated with war and levying taxes were instituted to enhance the status and power of the paramount chief through personal displays of material wealth. The Hawaiian case appears to follow a common trajectory among complex societies, where religious authority is increasingly expressed through the political economy, and serves as a contextual model of a complex chiefdom undergoing rapid political stratification.

The Origins of Milk and Wool Production in the Old World: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from the Central Balkans [and Comments

The Origins of Milk and Wool Production in the Old World: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from the Central Balkans [and Comments