Pig Measurements from Durrington Walls (Wiltshire, England)
Umberto Albarella, Sebastian Payne, 2004. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000235. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Umberto Albarella, Sebastian Payne unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Umberto
Albarella
Department of Archaeology
University of Sheffield, Department of Archaeology
Minalloy House
10-16 Regent Street
Sheffield
S1 3NJ
United Kingdom
Tel: 0114 22 22943
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 393
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000235
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
Small samples of pig (Sus scrofa) measurements are not particularly meaningful if analysed in isolation and can only be used as part of a broader data bank of measurements from a particular area or period, or must be compared with key sites, which have produced large data sets of measurements. Few of these are unfortunately available - particularly in north-western Europe - and many issues regarding the distinction of wild and domestic populations or attempts to detect differences in the size of pigs in different periods and geographic areas are therefore still unresolved.
One of the aims of this database is to contribute to filling this gap. The large sample of well-preserved teeth and bones from the late Neolithic site of Durrington Walls (Wiltshire, southern England) has provided the opportunity to build up a data set that can be of great use as a comparative baseline for other European material. The measurements presented in this database paper derive from excavations carried out in 1966-67 (Wainwright & Longworth, 1971). The choice of measurements to be taken was mainly based on their general availability in archaeological assemblages. For instance, since complete bones are only rarely found in archaeological sites, no lengths of long bones were taken. These data are in support of Albarella & Payne's article in the Journal of Archaeological Science 32(4)(2005).
