Pigs and Humans: 10,000 Years of Interaction

Pigs are one of the most iconic but also paradoxical animals ever to have developed a relationship with humans. This relationship has been a long and varied one: from noble wild beast of the forest to mass produced farmyard animal; from a symbol of status and plenty to a widespread religious food taboo; from revered religious totem to a parodied symbol of filth and debauchery.

Pigs and Humans brings together some of the key scholars whose research is highlighting the role wild and domestic pigs have played in human societies around the world over the last 10,000 years. The 22 contributors cover a broad and diverse range of temporal, geographical, and topical themes, grounded within the disciplines of archaeology, zoology, anthropology, and biology, as well as art history and history. They explore such areas as evolution and taxonomy, domestication and husbandry, ethnography, and ritual and art, and present some of the latest theories and methodological techniques. The volume as a whole is generously illustrated and will enhance our understanding of many of the issues regarding our complex and ever changing relationship with the pig.

Umberto Albarella is Research Fellow in Archaeology at the University of Sheffield.

Keith Dobney is Wellcome Trust Bioarchaeology Fellow at the University of Durham.

Anton Ervynck is Fellow of the Institute for the Archaeological Heritage of the Flemish Community in Brussels.

Peter Rowley-Conwy is Reader in Environmental Archaeology at the University of Durham.