A Study on Origin and Breeding of Wild Boar and Domesticated Pig Based on Skeletal Remains from Archaeological Sites in Japan.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate osteological differences between the wild boars and those excavated from the sites of Jomon and Yayoi Periods. A recent report described domesticated pig breeding in Yayoi Period aiming to clarify that the pigs were domesticated from wild boars in Japan or introduced from other countries. In this study, we aimed to elucidated the present status of excavation at sites of Jomon and Yayoi Periods in Kyushu district. To obtain basic data for identification of excavated bones, the skulls of present wild boars were osteometrically compared by age and by district and such comparison was also conducted between the wild boars and present pigs. In addition, some relics for cult and ritual related to wild boars were investigated as well as the excavated bones and the following results were observed.1. Wild boars have been excavated from 132 sites in Kyushu district including 96 Jomon sites and 36 Yayoi ones. These sites were mostly distributed in Kagos … More hima and Nagasaki Prefectures.2. he growth curve of wild boar was drawn and estimation formulae of bone length and sex discrimination were made based on the measurements of the cranium and the mandible from the present wild boars in Fukuoka, of which age was in a range from 6-month old to adult. For the wild boars in Age class Ib (12-month old or less), the size of male was larger than that of female at many cranial measuring items. The present size of skull was larger in the order the wild boars in Honshu, Kyushu and Amami districts, suggesting regional differences in their morphology. The size of a present pig termed as miniature pig was similar to that of wild boar, and Berkshire pig and Toen pig were also morphologically similar.3. The boars excavated from sites were much larger than those of the present wild boars and the porcine skulls excavated from Shimogori-Kuwanae site, etc. were larger than those of at present wild boars, but there was no difference between them in respect of the second principal component of morphology.4. Earthen products in the shape of wild boar were distributed in the wide area from Hokkaido to Kink district and earthenwares with various hunting designs have been discovered in Tohoku district mainly around Aomori Prefecture. These results suggest that people in Jomon Period might have used such earthen products as a tool for cult and ritual, etc. during hunting. Less