The pig was domesticated many times, probably only the knowledge of its domestication traveled between the human populations

The pig was first domesticated about 9,000 years ago in the area that is today eastern Turkey and China

The pig has been domesticated independently at least seven times in different locations around the world. This is according to a new study. The discovery was made by comparing pig populations with their barren living relatives. Science magazine reported.
The researchers found that domesticated pigs in several places were close to the wild pigs of the same area, which indicates local domestication. The finding challenges the previous assumption that pigs were domesticated only twice and the descendants of these two domestications were dispersed around the world.
"Until now, archaeologists have estimated that the pig was domesticated in no more than two regions of the world, the Near East and the Far East, but our findings turn that theory on its head," says Keith Dubney from Durham University. "Our research shows that domestication also occurred separately in Central Europe, Italy, Northern India, Southeast Asia, and even in the islands of Southeast Asia. Archaeological evidence indicates that pigs were first domesticated 9,000 years ago in eastern Turkey. They were also at home in China around the same time.

Until recently, the popular opinion was that after the initial domestication in these two sites, the pigs were transported in trade and migration routes all over the world.
In many ways this is a simplistic explanation. As agricultural practices developed during the Neolithic period, innovations and domesticated animals were passed on to all major human populations. However, it seems that instead of importing the pigs, people from several different countries domesticate the animals themselves.
"Definitely there is something strange about it," explains Gregor Larson from the University of Oxford, who co-wrote the article. "It is possible that humans did not really bring pigs with them during the development of agriculture in the Neolithic period. It is possible that instead of bringing the pigs, they are home to wild boars in their new home." According to him, the domestication of animals was probably part of the settlement process of the first humans who established farms. "These findings should raise a question as to the origin of the habitat of other animals."

It turns out that the domesticated pig did not wander with the humans, but only the idea of ​​its domestication
by Tamara Traubman

Although in the Jewish world the pig is a special animal that is forbidden to eat, but in the world it has great importance. Fact - humans wanted him so much that they domesticated him at least seven times. This is shown by DNA tests done by researchers from Europe on pigs.
Thousands of years ago, the pig changed from a hairy animal with a wild temperament and long tusks to the pink pig with drooping ears that we know today. This process did not happen once or twice, as was commonly thought until now, but was repeated again and again in different parts of the world.

A decisive step in the transition of humans from wandering to life in permanent residences was the domestication of animals and plants. A team of researchers from research centers in Great Britain, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia and Denmark asked to check how the pig was domesticated. They analyzed DNA taken from domesticated and wild pigs in different parts of the world. The findings of their research were published this weekend in the scientific journal "Science". "The question is no longer where the pig was domesticated, but where pigs were not domesticated," said one of the authors of the study, Greg Larson, from Oxford University in England, to the "Los Angeles Times" daily.

Many archaeologists assumed that the pig was domesticated in no more than two regions of the world - in the Middle East, which is considered the cradle of animal and plant domestication, and in the Far East. According to archaeological evidence, the pig was first domesticated about 9,000 years ago in the region that is today eastern Turkey as well as in China. Until now, most archaeologists assumed that after pigs were domesticated in these two regions, humans spread them around the world through trade and migration.

But it turns out that what passed from place to place was the idea of ​​domesticating pigs and not the pigs themselves. "The new findings show that the domestication of pigs occurred independently in several different regions: Central Europe, Italy, Northern India and Southeast Asia," reads an official announcement published by the researchers, "Furthermore, it is very likely that domestication took place in many places in each of the regions. In other words, what spread in the world was the method of domesticating wild pigs and not the domesticated pigs themselves."

The researchers discovered that the DNA of the domesticated pigs tested was very similar to the DNA of the wild pigs from the same region. From this they concluded that the domestication of the pig was done separately everywhere. Thus, for example, they found that the DNA profile of the pigs from Europe is very similar to the DNA of the wild boars found in Europe today, but it differs from the DNA of the wild boars in Turkey and Iran. The researchers concluded that the origin of the European pigs is the European wild boars and not the wild boars of the East.

The finding contradicts previous theories, according to which the wild boar was domesticated only in the Middle East and from there humans spread it as they spread around the world. "It is possible that the first domesticated pigs did indeed come from the Middle East", say the researchers, "but in any case, after some time, extensive domestication of wild pigs took place in Europe which diluted the contribution that came from other geographical areas".

"The farmers who migrated from Turkey to the west did not bring with them a significant amount of pigs," said Larson, "they brought with them the ideas of agriculture." According to him, the research raises questions about the process of animal domestication and the spread of ideas. "Domestication probably did not result from one person with an original idea who looked at a wild pig and said, 'I can make a domesticated pig out of it,' but it is possible that domestication is almost a natural consequence of humans settling down and starting to engage in agriculture," he said.

The first step in the domestication of the pig may have been made by the pig itself. Wild boars that were less afraid and were more friendly, approached the human colonies to scavenge on food scraps. "Such pigs got more food and could breed more," Larson said, "Over time, man began to breed them and choose the traits he preferred, until we arrived at the pig we know today."
For news on the subject at the BBC