Dobney, K., Ervynck, A., Albarella, U. orcid.org/0000-0001-5092-0532 et al. (1 more author) (2004) The chronology and frequency of a stress marker (linear enamel hypoplasia) in recent and archaeological populations of Sus scrofa in north-west Europe, and the effects of early domestication. Journal of Zoology, 264 (2). pp. 197-208. ISSN 0952-8369
Abstract
Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH), a deficiency in enamel formation visible on mammal tooth crowns, can be used as a retrospective indicator of physiological stress and developmental health in humans and animals. In this first study, for north-western Europe, the condition has been recorded from prehistoric (mesolithic) and recent populations of wild boar, and from domestic pigs belonging to early farming (neolithic) communities. It was possible to show that LEH occurs in recent and ancient populations of wild boar from north-west Europe, and that the occurrence of the condition can be explained by the same events within the animal's life (birth, weaning, winter starvation) as has been previously suggested for archaeological domestic pig samples. The frequency of LEH is consistently low within all ancient and recent populations of wild boar studied, a remarkable observation given the pronounced differences in the living conditions of these two diachronically well-separated groups, mainly linked with the increasing human pressure on recent populations of wild animals. Early domestic samples generally show high LEH frequencies, although considerable variation exists between the samples. It is suggested that these high frequencies are, in general, the result of domestication, while the variation could be related to differences in early husbandry. The observation of LEH, therefore, provides a valuable tool for studying the history of animal domestication.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Keywords: | wild boar; domestic pig; Sits scrofa; north-west Europe; prehistoric husbandry; dental defects |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of Archaeology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Mar 2017 16:06 |
Last Modified: | 06 Oct 2017 06:23 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0952836904005679 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S0952836904005679 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:112973 |