Itinerant pigs
A question raised by the article on Neolithic feasts in Wessex (News May/Jun 2019/166) was how pigs had been brought from distant parts of the country, even from as far as Scotland, when they appear not to be easily herded. Could they have even been carried there by the tribes?
Long distance swine herding is not unknown. A droving route for pigs existed in the 18th century from Bristol to Smithfield Market in London. The large Harris pork factory that existed in Calne, Wiltshire, until the 1980s, was started in 1770 by John and Sarah Harris who bought pigs that looked like they would not survive the journey. The pigs were apparently trotting along at 10 miles a day, so if London took about 12 days for the 120 miles from Bristol, the distance from the Scottish lowlands to Wessex could have been travelled in little over a month. Only the weary pigs would need to be carried!
Tim Lunt, Bath