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Well, we do have the Cinta Senese breed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C

by jaclaz 4y ago

Well, we do have the Cinta Senese breed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese#/media/File:Il_Passeggere_(5724676257).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese#/media/File:Il_Pa... that is (still today) actually very similar to what the Author describes as "medieval pigs".

unglaublich 4y ago
That's a better role model indeed. But the author doesn't say that medieval-looking pigs are uncommon around the world right now. They say that pigs in medieval themed games are represented by pigs as seen in intensive pig farming: confined, fast growing, furless and pink.
- jaclaz 4y ago
  Yep, they (the videogame designers) got the wrong models, in case any of them read the comments here (and accept the critique in the article), the Cinta Senese is proposed as an alternative model. To be fair, if you quickly look for pigs breeds, you will probably find images like this one: https://www.breedslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Types-of-Pig-Breeds.jpg https://www.breedslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Types-... where all breeds seem rather chunky and short-legged.
  - dcuthbertson 4y ago
    Aw. The Gloucestershire Old Spot looks kind of like a floppy-eared puppy. Very cute.
    - wincy 4y ago
      Also they’re delicious. Our local farmer had some of them and it’s the best bacon I’ve ever eaten.
      - 411111111111111 4y ago
        Purely from a visual standpoint it's also pretty much the only one that still looks to have somewhat natural proportions and skin. The rest just look adipose and/or at risk of sunburn to me.
      - simonh 4y ago
        Also what they’re fed on makes a huge difference, for any breed.
  - ClumsyPilot 4y ago
    these look much cuter than the farm variety
  - stcredzero 4y ago
    Di Young - Pixel Pig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiC7_167hQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiC7_167hQ0
matthewfcarlson 4y ago
I thought one of the most interesting points of the article was towards the bottom. Part of inaccuracy is that you'll be wandering around the village in the game and you'll find adult pigs in pens. It sounds like pigs were mostly free-range and in the woods for their adult life. Later on, as the "wilderness" shrank they transitioned to more of a farm animal.
- GiorgioG 4y ago
  Not medieval times, but when my grandfather was a kid (nearly 100 years ago now), the pigs would roam his Sicilian town and its outskirts. He was about 6 when he decided to piss off a sow in a field. It mauled him and near killed him.
  - masklinn 4y ago
    That's still standard in Corsica (and I think Sicily though less sure), local pigs are partially feral.
    - usrusr 4y ago
      Parts of Corsica, other parts seem to be run by a small breed of cattle who keep pockets of human tenders around. Observing the pigs at the Col de Vergio I imagined to notice a pattern of the bigger/older pigs venturing further away into the wild, as if they eventually developed a certain nagging suspicion but were too trusting minds to really act on it.
      - jamiek88 4y ago
        I love this on a deep level. Great writing. ‘Imagined to notice’ is a lovely way of embracing those flights of fancy. The imagery of the older pigs subconsciously coming to a conclusion they’ll never quite get to really touched me. Thank you.
  - jaclaz 4y ago
    Not exactly "roaming in the town", but just last week I was talking with someone that remembered how - in the late 1950's or early '60's - her family (in Tuscany countryside) had usually three or four pigs that were routinely brought (by her, at the time 8 or 9 years old) to the nearby woods and it happened more than once that one of them would flee and get to the village, and be later brought back by this or that neighbour.
btilly 4y ago
That article also includes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese#/media/File:Ambrogio_Lorenzetti_-_La_citt%C3%A0_del_buon_governo.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese#/media/File:Ambro... which is an actual medieval picture with a very recognizable Cinta Senese pig in it. Which is a testimony that at least some medieval pigs looked exactly like that.

by jaclaz 4y ago

unglaublich 4y ago

That's a better role model indeed. But the author doesn't say that medieval-looking pigs are uncommon around the world right now. They say that pigs in medieval themed games are represented by pigs as seen in intensive pig farming: confined, fast growing, furless and pink.

jaclaz 4y ago
Yep, they (the videogame designers) got the wrong models, in case any of them read the comments here (and accept the critique in the article), the Cinta Senese is proposed as an alternative model. To be fair, if you quickly look for pigs breeds, you will probably find images like this one: https://www.breedslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Types-of-Pig-Breeds.jpg https://www.breedslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Types-... where all breeds seem rather chunky and short-legged.
- dcuthbertson 4y ago
  Aw. The Gloucestershire Old Spot looks kind of like a floppy-eared puppy. Very cute.
  - wincy 4y ago
    Also they’re delicious. Our local farmer had some of them and it’s the best bacon I’ve ever eaten.
    - 411111111111111 4y ago
      Purely from a visual standpoint it's also pretty much the only one that still looks to have somewhat natural proportions and skin. The rest just look adipose and/or at risk of sunburn to me.
    - simonh 4y ago
      Also what they’re fed on makes a huge difference, for any breed.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  these look much cuter than the farm variety
- stcredzero 4y ago
  Di Young - Pixel Pig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiC7_167hQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiC7_167hQ0

matthewfcarlson 4y ago

I thought one of the most interesting points of the article was towards the bottom. Part of inaccuracy is that you'll be wandering around the village in the game and you'll find adult pigs in pens. It sounds like pigs were mostly free-range and in the woods for their adult life. Later on, as the "wilderness" shrank they transitioned to more of a farm animal.

GiorgioG 4y ago
Not medieval times, but when my grandfather was a kid (nearly 100 years ago now), the pigs would roam his Sicilian town and its outskirts. He was about 6 when he decided to piss off a sow in a field. It mauled him and near killed him.
- masklinn 4y ago
  That's still standard in Corsica (and I think Sicily though less sure), local pigs are partially feral.
  - usrusr 4y ago
    Parts of Corsica, other parts seem to be run by a small breed of cattle who keep pockets of human tenders around. Observing the pigs at the Col de Vergio I imagined to notice a pattern of the bigger/older pigs venturing further away into the wild, as if they eventually developed a certain nagging suspicion but were too trusting minds to really act on it.
    - jamiek88 4y ago
      I love this on a deep level. Great writing. ‘Imagined to notice’ is a lovely way of embracing those flights of fancy. The imagery of the older pigs subconsciously coming to a conclusion they’ll never quite get to really touched me. Thank you.
- jaclaz 4y ago
  Not exactly "roaming in the town", but just last week I was talking with someone that remembered how - in the late 1950's or early '60's - her family (in Tuscany countryside) had usually three or four pigs that were routinely brought (by her, at the time 8 or 9 years old) to the nearby woods and it happened more than once that one of them would flee and get to the village, and be later brought back by this or that neighbour.

btilly 4y ago

That article also includes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese#/media/File:Ambrogio_Lorenzetti_-_La_citt%C3%A0_del_buon_governo.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinta_Senese#/media/File:Ambro... which is an actual medieval picture with a very recognizable Cinta Senese pig in it. Which is a testimony that at least some medieval pigs looked exactly like that.