Abstract
Some Linguists and archaeologists consider Taiwan to be the probable Austronesian homeland. According to paleolinguistic research, the domestication of pigs is a feature of Proto-Austronesian culture. Pig remains are frequently recovered from prehistoric sites in Taiwan. Since wild pigs are abundant in this region, archaeologists debate whether the excavated bones represent wild or domesticated individuals.
This study focuses on pig remains excavated from the Chih-shan-yen Site (Taipei, Taiwan), which dates back to around 3500 B.P. Age profiles based on dental criteria are used to estimate the relative importance of pig husbandry in comparison to the hunting of wild boars in Chih-shan-yen subsistence strategies.
The Chih-shan-yen data reveal a high frequency of old pigs, less high frequency of juvenile and sub-adult pigs, very rare adult pigs, and no infant pigs. This result, combined with ethnographic records and ethnoarchaeological research, suggests that the Chih-shan-yen pig remains consist mainly of wild pigs, pointing to an emphasis on hunting rather than husbandry in Chih-shan-yen subsistence strategies.
Keywords
Chih-shan-yen Site, husbandry and hunting, domesticated and wild pigs, age estimation of pigs, zooarchaeology
Cite
Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.
