New archaeozoological evidence for the introduction of the guinea pig to Europe (original) (raw)
Abstract
The remains are described of a guinea pig dated to the end of the 16th – beginning of the 17th c. AD. The animal was discovered at a site in Mons, Belgium, and is the first European archaeozoological find dated with certainty on the basis of both the archaeological context and a radiocarbon dating of its bone. This find confirms that the guinea pig was introduced to Europe soon after the conquest of South America. The morphological and metrical analyses performed on the skeletal remains are in agreement with the iconographic and literary sources indicating the domestic status of the animals imported to Europe. While a previous discovery in England suggested that the guinea pig was a prestigious animal, the present study argues that it was accessible to several classes of the population which may be related to the rapid spread of this prolific animal after its introduction in Europe.
Highlights
► We describe the remains of a post-medieval guinea pig from a site in Belgium. ► Guinea pig introduced to Europe soon after the conquest of South America. ► Morphological and metrical analyses indicate its domestic status. ► Animal was accessible to several classes of the population.
Section snippets
Domestication of the guinea pig and its introduction to Europe
The domestic guinea pig or cuy is a medium-sized rodent of the infraorder Hystricognathi belonging to the Caviidae family which has South American origins (Müller-Haye, 1984). The systematics of the genus Cavia has recently been undergoing revision as the number of species occurring in the wild needed further clarification, as well as the origin of the domesticated form (Woods, 2005). The commonly held view (Herre and Röhrs, 1990, 36) that the wild ancestor of the guinea pig is Cavia aperea,
Archaeological finds from the town of Mons (Belgium, Hainaut)
In 2007, the archaeological heritage division of the ‘Service Public de Wallonie’, in collaboration with the association ‘Recherches et Prospections archéologiques en Wallonie’, carried out archaeological investigations prior to the construction of an underground parking in the ‘rue Jean Lescarts’ in Mons (Fig. 1). The excavations revealed a living quarter at the margin of the town centre, dating from medieval times until today, with evidence for commercial and artisanal activities in the
Identification, description and isotopic analysis of the guinea pig from Mons
The identification of the guinea pig bones from Mons has been carried out using the reference skeletons of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS). In the cellar, part of the right fore limb (scapula, humerus, radius, ulna) and both right and left tibia have been discovered. All bones have their epiphyses fused and seem to belong to the same adult individual (Fig. 2). A complete skull and the right part of a pelvis with a similar state of preservation were present in the
Discussion
The remains of the guinea pig from the Rue Jean Lescarts site at Mons confirm that the animal was introduced to Europe soon after the conquest of South America. It is the first European discovery that can be attributed with certainty to this older period on the basis of both the archaeological context and a direct radiocarbon dating of a skeletal element. As mentioned above, the body of the guinea pig was deposited at the end of the 16th – beginning of the 17th c. AD in the backyard of a middle
Acknowledgements
The present research was carried out with the financial support of the ‘Service de l'Archéologie’ du Service public de Wallonie (DGO4). The contribution of Wim Van Neer to this paper presents research results of the Interuniversity Attraction Poles Programme – Belgian Science Policy. We would like to thank the following colleagues for providing information: Umberto Albarella (University of Sheffield), Cécile Callou (Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris), Simon Davis (IGESPAR-UNIARQ,
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2018, Meat Science
This type of study allows researchers to directly infer human movements. Previous phylogenetic and morphological research on guinea pigs using ancient and modern samples from South America and Europe indicate that domestic guinea pigs, including those introduced to Europe following colonization of the Americas (Pigière, Van Neer, Ansieau, & Denis, 2012), all derived from a single domestication of wild guinea pigs (Cavia tschudii) in the western Central Andes, specifically the Peruvian highlands, over 2500 years ago (Spotorno et al., 2006; Spotorno et al., 2007; Spotorno, Valladares, Marin, & Zeballos, 2004; Walker, Soto, & Spotorno, 2014; Wing, 1986). Domestic guinea pig is multipurpose in different regions around the world.
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