A new genetic analysis of Israel's wild boar confirms that the animal is actually from Europe and a decedent of domesticated pigs brought by the Philistines 3,000 years ago.
The findings of a new genetic study conducted by researchers from Tel Aviv University's Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near East Civilizations confirmed that wild boars in Israel actually originated from Europe. They were brought to the country by Philistines and other seafaring raiders more than 3,000 years ago. This characteristic set them apart from the Near Eastern wild boars in surrounding countries.
"Our DNA analysis proves that the wild boars living in Israel today are the descendants of European pigs brought here starting in the Iron Age, around 900 BCE," says Prof. Finkelstein. "Given the concentration of pig bones found at Philistine archaeological sites, the European pigs likely came over in the Philistines' boats."
Though many pig bones have been discovered at Philistine archaeological sites along Israel's southern coastal plain dating from the beginning of the Iron Age, they are rare or absent in other country's archaeological sites of the same era. Since there is not much difference in the size and the shape between European and Near Eastern pigs, the researchers had to use DNA testing to identify the origins of the animals. Researchers wanted to identify whether the Philistines and other seafaring raiders who brought these animals to Israel used the local pigs or introduced breeds they brought from their own natives.
The DNA test revealed that pigs from the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age display the local Near Eastern genetic signature, while a European genetic signature appears early in the Iron Age, around 900 BCE. The findings also revealed that each of the 25 modern-day wild boars they analyzed from Israel shared a European genetic signature, whereas modern-day boars from nearby countries, like Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, and Iran, had a Near Eastern genetic signature.
Researchers concluded that after European pigs were introduced in Israel, they began dominating the local pig population. They can also be held responsible for the extinction of the local pig breed in Israel.
"If the European pigs mated with the local pigs, as we suspect, today's modern wild boars should have some Near Eastern DNA," said Dr. Meiri, who conducted the laboratory work for the study in a special, highly sterile lab in TAU's Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology. "If the European pigs just out-competed the locals, we'd expect the wild boars to have purely European DNA."
