Where are the wolves? Investigating the scarcity of European grey wolf (Canis lupus lupus) remains in medieval archaeological contexts and its implications

Abstract

The wolf is thought to have been abundant in many parts of medieval Europe, but its remains are rarely identified in archaeological contexts. One of the potential reasons for this is the problem of distinguishing between the skeletal elements of wolves and dogs, accentuated by poor preservation and fragmentation. This paper reviews the extent of this problem, exploring the morphological relationships between wolves and dogs, as well as the issue of hybridisation, and goes on to suggest how the scarcity of wolf remains may in fact reflect infrequent hunting. This is illustrated with a comparative regional case study of wolf hunting and commercial exploitation in medieval England and southern Scandinavia, synthesising archaeological and written sources. The paper concludes with an optimistic appraisal of the value of wolf remains in medieval archaeological contexts for a broader understanding of relations between humans and wolves in the medieval period.

A 33,000-Year-Old Incipient Dog from the Altai Mountains of Siberia: Evidence of the Earliest Domestication Disrupted by the Last Glacial Maximum

“…The length of the upper carnassial tooth (P 4 ) of the Razboinichya canid falls within size the range for modern wolves (Table 1), although the relative length of P 4 is less than the sum of the two molars (22.9 mm; see Table S2), a value more typical of dogs than wolves [19]. The lower carnassial tooth (M 1 , GL 27.7 mm; see Table S3) falls within the lower range of values for prehistoric wolves and is only slightly smaller than modern European wolves (Table S3).…”

Was the Dog Locally Domesticated in the Danube Gorges? Morphometric Study of Dog Cranial Remains From Four Mesolithic–Early Neolithic Archaeological Sites by Comparison With Contemporary Wolves

“…Our research has focused on morphometric features considered as the most important for separating dogs from wolves—mandible proportions, as well as the size, position, and clustering of teeth (Benecke, ; Clark, ; Clutton‐Brock, ; Pluskowski, ). All the measurements were taken with digital caliper to 0.01 mm precision.…”

Palaeolithic dog skulls at the Gravettian Předmostí site, the Czech Republic

“…In general, tooth crowding is considered to be characteristic of early domestic dogs (Wolfgramm, 1894;Lawrence, 1967;Morey, 1992;Clutton-Brock, 1995;Pluskowski, 2006). However, exceptionally, tooth crowding occurs in wild wolves (Dolgov and Rossolimo, 1964;Buchalczyk et al, 1981;Andersone and Ozoliņ s, 2000), especially in skulls that show other anomalies (Dolgov and Rossolimo, 1964;Clutton-Brock et al, 1994;Andersone and Ozoliņ s, 2000).…”