PIG farming was brought to Europe by Middle Eastern immigrants, a study has discovered.

Archaeologist Dr Keith Dobney, with Durham University, reached the conclusion after three years of research, picking through ancient and modern pig remains.

He believes Europeans only began farming after they saw immigrants from the East tending animals they had with them.

His team found that people adopted the Middle Eastern pigs, contradicting the commonly held view that Europe's earliest domesticated pigs were descended from local wild boar.

Dr Dobney said: "Many archaeologists believe that farming spread through the diffusion of ideas and cultural exchange, not with the direct migration of people.

"However, the discovery and analysis of ancient Middle Eastern pig remains across Europe reveals that, although cultural exchange did happen, Europe was definitely colonised by Middle Eastern farmers."

Farming began in the Middle East at least 3,000 years before it caught on in Europe.

Dr Dobney believes the Stone Age Middle Eastern farmers came to Europe from areas of modern-day Iran, Iraq and Turkey, bringing their plants and distinctive pottery styles.

He said: "A combination of rising population and possible climate change... which put pressure on land and resources, made them look for new places to settle, plant their crops and breed their animals and so they rapidly spread west into Europe."

However, though the Middle Eastern farmers' ideas proved popular, domesticated wild boar largely replaced their pigs within 500 years.

Dr Greger Larson, who was part of Dr Dobney's team, said: "The European domestic pigs descended from wild boar were so successful that over the next several thousand years they spread across the continent and even back into the Middle East, where they overtook the indigenous domestic pigs, though, at this point, we have no idea why.

"For whatever reason, European pigs were the must-have farm animal."

The research is part of an ongoing Durham University study exploring early animal farming and ancient human migration and trade networks.

Dr Dobney and his team are using revolutionary DNA analysis technology, which he said will, over the next five years, produce a new picture of the past.