Pig management in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods at the El Portalón site: Integration in the Iberian context

Abstract

The main objectives of this work are to distinguish the wild and domestic form of Sus from the Metal Age at the El Portalón site, to determine the osteometric variation within the suid population in the habitat context found in the different levels of the El Portalón site, in comparison with the change in pig size from the Neolithic to the Iron Age in the context of the Iberian Peninsula, and to infer pig management systems through zooarchaeological analysis. A total of 280 suid bone remains have been analysed from the Chalcolithic level (101 bone remains) and the Bronze Age level (177 bone remains) recovered from the El Portalón site. A decrease in pig size from the Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age has been observed, similarly to pig populations from the Neolithic to the Iron Age in sites found on the Iberian Peninsula. Although scant data are available, a move towards an exploitation of older individuals and a slight increase in females compared to males is observed from the Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age in the pig population found at the El Portalón site. These suggestions correspond to pig management from the Neolithic to the Iron Age in the Iberian Peninsula context.