Abstract:
In this paper we present the results of a study of post-cranial fusion in pigs (Sus scrofa) and propose a new system for the construction of harvest profiles of pigs based on epiphyseal fusion. The study examined post-crania of 40 Asian wild boar in museum and personal collections. It finds a regular pattern in the sequence of fusion of elements in this sample that also agrees with the fusion sequences of 56 European wild boar published in earlier studies. The fusion sequence of post-cranial elements is grouped into eleven different age classes (A-K). Comparison of the dentition based age classes assigned to 38 of the wild boar studied here in and earlier study (Lemoine et al. 2014) shows a close correspondence between dental and fusion based age classes. Although the age at death of these specimens is not known, it is possible to assign age estimates for the fusion based age classes defined here based on the relatively secure age estimates for the dentition based age classes. A comparison of the fusion based harvest profile for a large assemblage of pig remains from the Epipaleolithic site of Hallan Çemi (southeastern Anatolia) constructed using the system proposed here with dentition based profiles using the three systems proposed in Lemoine et al. shows a very close correspondence, especially in the younger age classes. We conclude with a consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of fusion based and dentition based harvest profiles finding that when taphonomic conditions permit fusion based harvest profiles are a valuable tool for understanding ancient exploitation strategies, especially when used in tandem with dentition based profiles.
