[3] In Northern Italy, artificially introduced S. s. scrofa have extensively interbred with the smaller sized indigenous S. s. majori populations since the 1950s.

[4] The boar features prominently in early-Medieval Germanic cultures, with its image having been frequently engraved on shields and swords.

The boar features heavily in religious practice in Germanic paganism where it is closely associated with Freyr and has also been suggested to have been a totemic animal to the Swedes, especially to the Yngling royal dynasty who claimed descent from the god.

The boar and pig were held in particularly high esteem by the Celts, who considered them to be their most important sacred animal.

It has been suggested that some early myths surrounding the Welsh hero Culhwch involved the character being the son of a boar god.