Do you think being a pig is easy? You can grow 1 pound of meat by eating 2 pounds of grain. Why don’t you try it?

Obtaining a stable food source is probably one of the important motivations for people to try to domesticate wild animals , and the great achievements that have resulted from this can still be felt on today's dining tables. Among these domesticated species, the influence of domestic pigs is particularly special. As one of the earliest animals domesticated by humans, pigs also have many stories.

Pigs have other stories besides being food | Pixabay

Widespread domestication

After leaving Africa, Homo sapiens gradually spread to the world, giving rise to many indigenous civilizations around the world. These ancient people also became the pioneers of domesticating animals and plants. Due to the differences in wildlife resources in different civilizations , people chose different creatures to domesticate: in East Asia, people domesticated chickens and quails; in North Africa, hardy donkeys became livestock; in Central and South America, guinea pigs and alpacas became regular guests on the table.

It can be concluded that people in both the Mesopotamian and ancient China must have frequently come into contact with wild boars . Evidence of the existence of domestic pigs was discovered in an Anatolian site in present-day Turkey more than 9,000 years ago. In China, pig bones unearthed from the Jiahu site in Wuyang, Henan, also 9,000 years ago, also showed significant differences from wild boars. Subsequently, clues about domestic pigs sprang up in Central Europe, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.

The site of Cayonu in Anatolia, Türkiye, where the earliest evidence of domesticated pigs was found | Krähenstein / Wikipedia

Although pig domestication has a long history and domestic pigs are widely distributed, it is not easy to determine their domestication origin. There is no doubt that the ancestors of domestic pigs are wild boars that roam the mountains , but because wild boars are highly adaptable, they are widely distributed throughout the Asian continent and northern Africa, and have derived at least 16 subspecies, which means that the ancestors of domestic pigs in different regions may come from different subspecies.

There are clear differences between wild boars and domestic pigs | Pixabay

At that time, it was very difficult for independent ancient civilizations to exchange technology. Early studies also proved that domestic pigs around the world were more distantly related, but domestic pigs and wild boars in the same region were more genetically similar. From this, people inferred that ancient civilizations in various regions independently domesticated wild boars around them. This phenomenon was particularly evident in six regions: Central Europe, the Apennines, East Asia, India, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea.

This theory was widely accepted because it was consistent with archaeological evidence, showing that even within an independent civilization, domestic pigs were domesticated in multiple centers . For example, in China, the ancient civilizations in the Yellow River Basin and the ancient civilizations in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River had significant differences in the domestication of pigs.

When the two first domesticated wild boars, they were at the same starting point, but more than a thousand years later, they showed significant differences. Among the pig bones unearthed from the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin, there is a clear lack of adult boar bones. This is because castration technology had not yet appeared at the time, and males with slow growth rhythms and bad tempers were abandoned or slaughtered when they were young. In addition, since there was no need to fight or dig for food , the skulls of these domestic pigs were also significantly shortened .

Comparison of the skulls of wild boar and domestic pig, with the domestic pig on the right | Klaus Rassinger & Gerhard Cammerer / Wikipedia

In contrast, the Yangtze River Basin civilization of the same period did not make any more innovations in pig farming technology for a thousand years, and the unearthed pig bones remained in a state similar to that of more than a thousand years ago, with a very low degree of domestication. This seems to provide another evidence that domestic pigs were domesticated independently in various places: if the domestication of this animal started from one point and spread to other areas, then there must have been corresponding technical exchanges in the later period, and the domestication and breeding techniques in various regions should not be far apart. But the fact is that there is a generation gap of more than a thousand years between the two groups of civilizations, which are only more than a thousand kilometers apart. Obviously, there has been no relevant technical exchanges between them .

A confusing background

But upon closer inspection, this view has an shaky foundation. We must know that while we are artificially selecting wild animals, the natural environment is also profoundly affecting us.

It can be assumed that the natural environment of the ancient civilizations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River was more favorable than that of the Yellow River Basin. If there were still enough wild animal resources for fishing and hunting in the Yangtze River Basin during this thousand years, then the local civilization seemed to lack the motivation to raise domestic pigs on a large scale to provide meat.

The perfect provider of meat | Rainer Zenz / Wikipedia

However, recent studies using DNA technology have shown completely different results: new research shows that domestic pigs around the world seem to be traced back to two sources: the Near East and East Asia. The source of domestic pigs in East Asia is not China, but more likely the ancient tribes in the Mekong River Basin.

Similar studies have also shown that domesticated pigs in the Yellow River Basin, the Yangtze River Basin, and even the Inner Mongolia region of China seem to have come from the same starting point . What exactly caused the rift between genetic evidence and archaeological evidence? To this day, we still don't know.

The Vietnamese people also bred this rather unique-looking pot-bellied pig | HAH / Wikipedia

Efficient meat provider

Regardless of the path of domestication of domestic pigs, it is certain that humans have already started to domesticate domestic pigs on a large scale at least 6,000 years ago. As we mentioned earlier, wild boars are widely distributed, and this is largely due to their strong adaptability to the environment. Wild boars are absolute opportunists. They eat almost everything, and their nutrient conversion efficiency is amazing : the weight of a young wild boar can increase nearly 100 times in the first year of its life, which is very rare among large mammals.

A vivid explanation of eating everything | Wikipedia

Domestic pigs obtained by domesticating wild boars also inherited this good appetite. Even if they are raised in a crude way with human leftovers, they can eat 4 kg of feed to grow 1 kg of meat. In modern times, pigs raised with scientifically formulated concentrated feed can even eat 2 kg of feed to grow 1 kg of meat! In comparison, other large mammals that were also domesticated very early cannot compete with them at all. The feed conversion rate of cattle is too low, and goats and sheep are even more picky about feed.

Rounding off means you grow as much as you eat! (Not | Pexel

Although pigs are not raised on a large scale like chickens, domestic pigs contribute more than 110 million tons of meat to human society every year due to their high feed conversion rate and rapid growth rate. Except for some areas with dietary taboos, domestic pigs have become almost the most important meat supplier in the world.

Guardian of the Tomb

However, in the civilizations of the Yangtze River Basin and Inner Mongolia, the use of domestic pigs does not seem to be limited to eating - pig bones are more often found in scenes related to sacrifices and burials. This seems to indicate that humans domesticated pigs not just to satisfy their appetites, but at least in some civilizations, domesticating pigs may have been for primitive religious purposes .

The scene of majestic wild boars fighting with other ferocious beasts must have left a deep impression on the ancients - especially adult male wild boars, which would even face the attacks of tigers, leopards, jackals and wolves head-on. This may have given the ancients an exceptionally "sacred" impression of these brave creatures.

Big tiger, I'm not afraid! | Banam77 / Wikipedia

Pigs were buried with the dead in many Neolithic tombs. Although different sites buried pigs in different ways—some only had pig heads, some had whole pigs—the jaws with pig teeth were indispensable. This seems to indicate that the ancients hoped that these beasts, which once fought bravely with their curved fangs, could provide protection for their deceased ancestors.

This primitive worship has not completely disappeared to this day. In some parts of my country, especially where some ethnic minorities gather, pig teeth are still a symbol of warding off evil and driving away evil spirits.

A pig's tooth amulet, possibly from the Roman period | Caroline McDonald / Colchester Museums

This "sacred impression" extending from wild boars to domestic pigs is more obvious in some martial nations. The famous Nurhaci, whose name means "wild boar skin", must have been named by his father Takshi because he hoped that his eldest son would be as brave and courageous as a wild boar. Of course, in the eyes of these nations, wild boars and domestic pigs may not be the same thing. But at least we can be sure that it is their respect for wild boars that has created their love for pig farming.

Wild boar vs. domestic pig | Left: Steffen and Alexandra Sailor / www.ardea.com; Right: Pixabay

According to records, whether it was the time of Nurhaci or earlier Northeast Asian ethnic groups such as the Ulohou, Shiwei, and Sushen, they all particularly liked raising pigs - "They liked to raise pigs, eat their meat, and wear their skins. In winter, they applied pig fat on their bodies, several inches thick, to protect themselves from the wind and cold." Their neighbors, the Yakuts, even gave these ethnic groups a common name - Tungus, which means pig farmers.

Promoter of human civilization

Of course, human emotions do not always improve the status of domestic pigs. In the Near East, where domestic pigs were originally domesticated, pork was considered unclean and was forbidden to be eaten due to some religious factors . There are many views on the cause of this dietary taboo. Some believe that the omnivorous nature of pigs and the poor living environment directly created the unclean image; others believe that during the early breeding process, these areas may have experienced large-scale outbreaks of plagues transmitted from pigs to humans, which further deepened people's negative impression of pigs.

However, there is no doubt that Chinese people love pigs. Today, there are more than 1 billion domestic pigs in the world, 40% of which are in China. For Chinese people, pigs have long been associated with deliciousness and have even played a significant role in promoting agricultural production.

When it comes to the deliciousness of pork, I can't finish talking about it for three days and three nights! | Pixabay

For a period of time, the economic benefits of pig farming were relatively low because pigs have a large appetite. However, as the agricultural saying goes, "If you don't make money from raising pigs, look back at the fields." Pig manure is a large-volume and high-quality ecological fertilizer . Unlike cow manure, it can be used directly without "fermentation". In the era of lack of chemical fertilizers, a truckload of pig manure is the guarantee of a good grain harvest.

Today, after thousands of years of walking hand in hand with humans, these cute creatures are still moving towards new historical roles: their skin structure is very similar to ours and comes from a wide range of sources, so they are used in many clinical studies related to skin diseases , and their organs have even become a potential source of human organ transplants .

Pigs also keep humans company as pets. But don't expect them not to grow up. Even the so-called miniature pigs weigh 80 to 90 kilograms when they grow up. | Pixabay

We still don’t fully understand the past of domesticated pigs, but that may not matter. This once-wieldy beast has influenced every aspect of our lives, and it will continue to be with us throughout our glorious civilization.

Author: A man is wandering

Cover image source: pixabay