Although it is true that other animals can provide various products, mainly comestibles (milk, eggs) and materials that can be used for clothing and construction (wool), pig herding has many benefits that makes it profitable even though the output is limited to meat, fat and leather.

It is important to point out that much like any other societal, economical and technological developments were based on the surroundings. In this case, domestication of animals during the Neolithic revolution was primarily driven by the availability of the local fauna and if some region was a home to large population of wild boars, ancestors of the domesticated pig and the population of cattle or sheep was small, then it was only natural for people to use the resources that were available and then diversify should opportunity arise. This largely contributes to the large popularity of pigs across vast forested areas of Europe. It is generally assumed that pigs were domesticated in various areas of Europe and Asia independently, sometime between 10th and 9th millennium BCE.

Now, let's focus on the biological benefits of the pig herding and related economical boons they might provide. One of the most basic and easily observable trait of the animals from the Suidae family is their high breeding rate and short maturation time, especially when compared with cattle. Sows can breed around 7th-8th month of life, their gestation period lasts for about 4 months and they can produce several sucklings in one litter. Today, it can be as much as 10 what can mean increase of the pig population by 20 animals per year, although such effectiveness was was generally unachievable prior to modern times. Still, even four or five new piglets born and raised each year (and able to replace one-year old pigs that could have been readily slaughtered) meant an opportunity to quickly rise a substantial herd, especially in comparison with cows that can produce a single calf a year (twin pregnancies are possible, but rare, occurring in less than 5% cases) or sheep that give birth after the 4 months of pregnancy, but also produce a single offspring and usually mate once a year. Furthermore, pigs tend to mature and raise quickly, what was especially evident in the Asiatic races living in warm climates with an access to an abundant food sources, but even sturdier and relatively slowly maturing European boars accustomed to harsher, colder climates were still raising fast in comparison with other animals and it was quite possible to grow a pig to at least 60-70 kg or possibly more within a year, especially in case of European ones.

Nevertheless, the harvest efficiency is quite high in comparison with sheep an cattle, meaning that more of the animal body mass can be used directly. Growth is also quite efficient, as it is estimated that 1 kg of body mass growth requires the use of 3-4 kg of fodder. This is enhanced by the fact that the pigs, as all members of this family are omnivores and can thus can eat almost anything what between ability to eat food eaten by people, kitchen refuse or even feces and the ability to forage in the nearby woods made rising domesticated pigs quite easy. On the other hand, pigs can be quite successfully grown in relatively small space, as they do not require pastures, what could have also contributed to the popularity of these animals, especially in the areas frequented by natural predators - ability to keep the animals safely near the homestead was another factor promoting the swine herding.

So, to sum it up, although pigs produce only meat, fat and leather (also sinews and bones, but these were less commonly used), their high breeding rate, natural resilience and simple feeding requirements were important traits that contributed to the popularity of this animal across Europe and Asia.