Buried, eaten, sacrificed: Archaeological dog remains from Trans-Baikal, Siberia

Losey, Robert J.; Nomokonova, Tatiana; Fleming, Lacey S.; Kharinskii, Artur; Kovychev, Evgenii V.; Konstantinov, Mikhail V.; Diatchina, N. G.; Sablin, Mikhail V.; Iaroslavtseva, Larisa G.

doi:10.1016/j.ara.2018.02.005

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Human intentionality likely drives some of these size changes, but a suite of unintentional actions and nonhuman factors is also surely at work. In Siberia, no Pleistocene canid remains are widely accepted as dogs, but dogs are well documented in Siberian forager contexts by the early Holocene (~9000 years ago) and are widespread in southern Siberian pastoralist and agriculturalist societies by the Late Holocene (~3000 years ago) ( 6 , 22 – 25 ). Examination of skeletal remains from 199 dogs from 28 Siberian archaeological sites shows a gradual decrease in body mass through the Holocene, with the overall mean being just 16.4 ± 4.64 kg (Table 1) ( 26 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dogs from aquatic and terrestrial forager settings cluster in two groups, one falling between the marine forager dogs and the wolves. These individuals likely had significant freshwater protein in their diets and include multiple specimens dating to 7400 to 6300 years ago, all from the Lake Baikal area ( 22 ). The second cluster has high δ 15 N and low δ 13 C values and consists of dogs from a ~2200-year-old site on the lower Ob’ River where diets also have been assessed as rich in freshwater foods, most likely fish ( 23 , 50 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Holocene foraging societies were often more sedentary than their Pleistocene predecessors, particularly where they focused on spatially and temporally restricted resources such as runs of fish and concentrations of sea mammals. As mentioned, recurrent use of such resources in Siberia occurs early in the Middle Holocene, by which time dogs are well evidenced in the Arctic, coastal Primorye, and near Lake Baikal (22,24,57). Later pastoral and agricultural societies were larger in scale in Siberia and elsewhere, potentially producing yet more waste.…”

Section: Consuming Anthropogenic Waste and Human Fecesmentioning

confidence: 97%

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The evolution of dog diet and foraging: Insights from archaeological canids in Siberia

et al. 2022

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Research on the evolution of dog foraging and diet has largely focused on scavenging during their initial domestication and genetic adaptations to starch-rich food environments following the advent of agriculture. The Siberian archaeological record evidences other critical shifts in dog foraging and diet that likely characterize Holocene dogs globally. By the Middle Holocene, body size reconstruction for Siberia dogs indicates that most were far smaller than Pleistocene wolves. This contributed to dogs’ tendencies to scavenge, feed on small prey, and reduce social foraging. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of Siberian dogs reveals that their diets were more diverse than those of Pleistocene wolves. This included habitual consumption of marine and freshwater foods by the Middle Holocene and reliance on C 4 foods by the Late Holocene. Feeding on such foods and anthropogenic waste increased dogs’ exposure to microbes, affected their gut microbiomes, and shaped long-term dog population history.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Consuming Anthropogenic Waste and Human Fecesmentioning

confidence: 97%

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The evolution of dog diet and foraging: Insights from archaeological canids in Siberia

et al. 2022

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“…Eurasian dogs occur in graves with or without humans, with grave goods, and in large canine cemeteries starting about 14,000 years ago (e.g., Clutton-Brock, 1995;Davis & Valla, 1978;Losey et al, 2011Losey et al, , 2013Losey et al, , 2018Morey, 2006;Perri, 2017;Stager, 1991). Prehistoric dog burials or cemeteries are widespread, being found in Israel, Siberia, Russia, North America, Germany, Egypt, Japan, Peru, Spain, Jordan, China, Sudan, Ukraine, and Tunisia.…”

Section: Distinctive Attributes Of Dingoesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What the dingo says about dog domestication

Shipman

2020

The Anatomical Record

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Worldwide, dogs (Canis familiaris) are certainly the most common domesticate (900 million according to the World Atlas) and are sometimes used as a proxy for human presence. Dogs were the first and therefore arguably most important species ever to be domesticated. It is widely accepted that the domestic dog is a descendent of Pleistocene gray wolves (Canis lupus), possibly of a population now extinct. How can an extant canid, the dingo (Canis dingo or Canis familiaris), whose status as a species and as a domesticate is controversial, improve our understanding of the ancient process of domesticating the dog? Here I review anatomical, behavioral, biogeographic, and molecular evidence on the appropriate status of dingoes in a historical context. Dingoes are now the major apex predator in Australia aside from humans. Different sources of evidence have suggested different times of arrival in Greater Australia for humans and canids and different degrees of intimacy or domestication between humans and canids. Just as domestic dogs are often accorded near‐human status, dingoes have special relationships with human families, but reproductively and behaviorally they remain independent. In sum, traits of the dingo reflect its lupine ancestry, a certain degree of accommodation to human company, and unique adaptations to the demands of its habitat. Emphasizing that domestication is a long‐term process, not an event, helps clarify the ambiguous status of dingoes.

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“…Its archaeological identification has numerous implications. They were part of the social, economic, and religious sphere of past societies (Anthony & Brown, 2017; Guagnin et al, 2018; Hill, 2018; Losey et al, 2011, 2018; Martin et al, 2014; Morey, 2010; Perri, 2016; Russell, 2012; Schwartz, 1997; Welker & Byers, 2019; among others) and also acted as taphonomic agents that modified and destroyed faunal assemblages (Kent, 1981; Lyon, 1970; Payne & Munson, 1985; Russell & Twiss, 2017). This study presents specimens from the GUA‐010 Conchal site supporting the existence of C. familiaris in the Chilean western Patagonia and their interaction with marine hunter‐gatherer groups that inhabited the Chonos Archipelago.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dog of Los Chonos: First pre‐Hispanic record in western Patagonia (~43° to 47°S, Chile)

Venanzi

Prevosti

Román

et al. 2021

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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In recent years, numerous archaeological remains of dogs (Canis familiaris) have been found in the Southern Cone of South America. In Patagonia, the pre‐Hispanic record was limited to the northeast. This article presents dog specimens recovered at archaeological site GUA‐010 Conchal located in the western Patagonian channels of Chile. Their presence is related to hunter‐gatherers showing marked marine adaptations. This study defines their chronology, characterizes them morphologically and morphometrically, estimates their body mass and age, and investigates their possible social roles. Our analyses indicates that the remains correspond to a pre‐Hispanic dog dated at 870 ± 20 years 14C bp (769–684 cal bp), thereby expanding the known geographic range of the species prior to European colonization. The dog was an adult animal, and its body size was approximately 3–4 kg, which represents the smallest individual recorded in the Southern Cone. Body size is consistent with the reports in ethnohistorical record, which indicated the use of dog fur as clothing and possibly its help in fishing. Archaeological evidence suggests that its function as a food source is unlikely.

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Buried, eaten, sacrificed: Archaeological dog remains from Trans-Baikal, Siberia

Cited by 15 publications

References 26 publications

The evolution of dog diet and foraging: Insights from archaeological canids in Siberia

The evolution of dog diet and foraging: Insights from archaeological canids in Siberia

What the dingo says about dog domestication

The dog of Los Chonos: First pre‐Hispanic record in western Patagonia (~43° to 47°S, Chile)

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