First step to distinguish between domestic and wild pig faecal biomarkers in archaeological sediments

Abstract

The study of animal domestication and its development is a major challenge in archaeological science, as it integrates knowledge from multiple disciplines. In this sense, distinguishing between wild and domestic pig in archaeological sediments is an important goal in archaeology as it helps to trace the development of domestication in this species. In this manuscript, we report the identification of specific molecular features differentiating wild and domestic pigs using untargeted analysis by high resolution mass spectrometry. Reference samples of modern wild and domestic pigs were collected from various locations to identify characteristic features of each group and to assess their persistence in archaeological sediments samples previously classified as suid using traditional proxies. Distinct resistant to degradation tentative biomarkers for both wild pig and domestic pigs were identified, enabling the classification of archaeological sedimentary remains into these two categories. This work represents the first approach to identifying domestic and wild pig specific, resistant to degradation biomarkers related to animal domestication.