No Pig Bones

[Goose]

Among excavated ancient Israelite settlements of the Iron Age I (1200-1000 BCE), there are little(less then 1%) to no pig bones among animal bone debri, compared with Philistine sites near the coast, where pig bones are common.

[Timothy Leary]

Ok. You might get more reaction to this one in the History dept.

[Goose]

I'm not looking for feedback

[shunyadragon]

Among excavated ancient Israelite settlements of the Iron Age I (1200-1000 BCE), there are little(less then 1%) to no pig bones among animal bone debri, compared with Philistine sites near the coast, where pig bones are common.Pigs make poor animals for nomadic tribes in arid to semiarid regions that prefer goats and sheep.

I believe that archeological evidence shows that the peoples that now consist of the Jews and Arabs of that region are originally desended from the same stone age nomadic tribes. My guess is that the Philistines were more settled in their lifestyle along the coast, which would be better suited to raising pigs.

This is also true in east Asia. The Nomadic people like the Mongols definitely almost exclusively prefered goats and sheep and the more sedentary lowland and coastal peoples preferred the pig in a big way. In fact the wild boar is the grand daddy of the Chinese dragon.

[Goose]

Shuny,

Iron I Israelites weren't nomads.

[shunyadragon]

Shuny,

Iron I Israelites weren't nomads.
Missed the point. I probably did not explain completely. They desended from nomadic tribes and later became settled, but still retained their traditional goat and sheep herding habits and food preferences. The fact is the semiarid conditions that dominated the hilly region that the Isrealites inhabited is not well adapted to swine production.

Other Semitic tribes like the Arabs that founded Islam remained nomadic in the more arid regions and have always kept their preference for lamb and goat. The Mongolians and other grassland tribes followed the same pattern. Some Mongolians remain nomadic and others settled in more permanent villages and towns in the Bronze and Iron Ages, but all retained their preference for goat and lamb as their traditional food.

[Pitiricus]

This of course ignores the fact that in non-israelite settlements of the same period in the same region, pig bones were found...

[Goose]

This of course ignores the fact that in non-israelite settlements of the same period in the same region, pig bones were found...
Well, I thought I pointed that out in my first post. :ahem: Or are you referring to non-philistine also.

[shunyadragon]

Well, I thought I pointed that out in my first post. :ahem: Or are you referring to non-philistine also.Pitiricus will need to be more specific. The exception does not violate the rule.
This would depend on the origins of the people in whichever settlements you are referring to The semites who desended from the nomadic tribes of the semiarid and arid regions like the Isrealites and Arabs would not have swine, because they are not adapted to that climate. Other in coastal and other wetter environments would be more likely to raise swine.

Naturally swine are found only in wetter climates. The phllistines were mostly in coastal settlements and would more likely raise swine.

The significant parallel still exists where the Mongols and other nationalities that lived in the arid to semi-arid regions almost exclusively raised sheeps and goats, while swine was a extremely inportant part of the diet of the Han and other nationalities in the wetter climates particularly in the warmer wetter climates, along rivers and in the coastal plain.

[shunyadragon]

This of course ignores the fact that in non-israelite settlements of the same period in the same region, pig bones were found...
For more detailed references to this check out Celsus's thread on his Introduction to Archeology in the Archeology 201 section.