This little piggy went to the winter solstice

Age and season of pig slaughter at Late Neolithic Durrington Walls (Wiltshire, UK) as detected through a new system for recording tooth wear

Elizabeth Wright, Sarah Viner-Daniels, Mike Parker Pearson, Umberto Albarellaa

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.09.009

Available on Academia.org https://www.academia.edu/8916819/Age_and_season_of_pig_slaughter_at_Late_Neolithic_Durrington_Walls_Wiltshire_UK_as_detected_through_a_new_system_for_recording_tooth_wear


"In sum, pigs were brought to Durrington Walls to be slaughtered at a young age (short of a year) to provide meat for predominately winter-based feasting events. In addition, older pigs(mainly in their second year) were eaten and deposited in pits associated with the ritual closure of houses as they became abandoned. These older pigs may have been slaughtered throughout the year, though still preferentially in winter, suggesting that such closing rituals at the household level were not necessarily linked to the calendrical festivities of the wider community"