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Early Evidence for Pig and Dog Husbandry from the Neolithic Site of An Son, Southern Vietnam
Author(s) -
Piper P. J.,
Campos F. Z.,
Ngoc Kinh D.,
Amano N.,
Oxenham M.,
Chi Hoang B.,
Bellwood P.,
Willis A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal of osteoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1099-1212
pISSN - 1047-482X
DOI - 10.1002/oa.2226
Subject(s) - animal husbandry , archaeology , zooarchaeology , geography , fishing , assemblage (archaeology) , taphonomy , faunal assemblage , ecology , biology , agriculture , fauna
An Son in southern Vietnam is one of a series of Neolithic (food producing) settlement/cemetery sites in Southeast Asia that appear, archaeologically, shortly before and after 2000 cal. bc . Excavations in 2009 produced a small but important assemblage of vertebrate remains that permit relative comparisons with other zooarchaeological assemblages of similar date in Thailand and northern Vietnam. At An Son, domestic dogs are present from the earliest known phases of occupation with butchery evidence and a high proportion of canid remains, suggesting they were possibly used as a food resource. Suid bones were recovered from the earliest phases of the site excavated, and pig husbandry can be identified from at least 1800 to 1600 cal. bc . There is also evidence for the use of a range of other resources including fishing, hunting and the capturing of turtles. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.