Giant Forest Hog and Bush Pig in Archaeological Contexts at the Kabata-3 Site, Western Uganda
Résumé
Archaeological excavations at the Kabata-3 site (KA-3), in Western Uganda during 2021 were
conducted as part of the regional inquiry in the Ndali Crater Lakes Region (NCLR) (Schmidt et al.
2024a, 2024b). The excavations at KA-3 yielded abundant faunal remains associated with several
pottery traditions, including Kansyore, Transitional Urewe (TU, Early Iron Age) and Bigo period.
Among the mammalian remains from the site, there are several suid teeth and post-cranial elements
indicating the presence of two taxa Giant Forest Hog Hylochoerus (6 teeth) and Potamochoerus (1
tooth). This paper describes and analyses the suid specimens from KA-3 and examines them within their
archaeological context and relationships with other faunal remains at other NCLR sites. This
examination is important because remains of these two suids tend to be rare in African archaeological
sites, especially when compared to the more common occurrence of Wart Hog, Phacochoerus. KA-3
and two other sites (KA-1 and NK-1) with post-cranial remains of Hylochoerus are close to the contact
zone between the ranges of Potamochoerus porcus and Potamochoerus larvatus and it falls within the
present day distribution zone of Hylochoerus meinertzhageni.