Monganaut
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Edited Apr 13, 2019, 19:58
Neolithic Pooch from Orkney Forensically Reconstructed
Apr 13, 2019, 19:46
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Not surprisingly, it's very wolf like....
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/13/neolithic-dog-reveals-tales-behind-orkney-monuments
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tjj
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Edited Apr 13, 2019, 23:17
Re: Neolithic Pooch from Orkney Forensically Reconstructed
Apr 13, 2019, 20:07
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This is a fascinating discovery isn't it? And yes, the reconstruction looks very wolf-like. Moss emphasises the point under her News entry that the discovery of 24 dog skulls in one tomb seems to indicate a totemic aspect for the people who placed their remains in a tomb. Perhaps this is the first actual evidence of wolves becoming semi-domesticated.
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Monganaut
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Edited Apr 13, 2019, 23:46
Re: Neolithic Pooch from Orkney Forensically Reconstructed
Apr 13, 2019, 23:36
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If I recall correctly, use of dogs in Europe has been traced back to the late paleolithic period (circa 20 000 years BCE). I've no doubt having a dog or a pack of them was a game changer in terms of hunting game, and even protection and company. According to article below, by about 7000 BCE domesticated dogs (wolves?) were commonplace. I imagine they were treated like some husky packs in Alaska and northern Europe / Russia. Not quite house dogs, but living outside in close proximity. Would be great if someone discovered a prehistoric sled or something. Mind you, during the pre central heating ice age, it may have been commonplace to cosy up next to your dogs fer warmth, after all, we probably smelt just as bad ;) Brief article here https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-wolves-really-became-dogs-180970014/
And this is a bit more in depth....suggests that dogs found in Newgrange were from an 'Eastern' strain of pooch, rather than western.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/06/the-origin-of-dogs/484976/
On a different slant pertaining to pets....Evidence for early cat domestication unsurprisingly is from the Middle East region. I guess that to do with grain production and keeping vermin out of yer stash?.
https://www.upi.com/Cats-were-first-domesticated-in-the-Near-East-and-ancient-Egypt-DNA-data-shows/4221497894324/
This made me laugh, and it's obvious if you've ever had a cat...they domesticated themselves.... https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/domesticated-cats-dna-genetics-pets-science/
Anyway, I digress (again)....
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moss
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Re: Neolithic Pooch from Orkney Forensically Reconstructed
Apr 14, 2019, 09:26
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Well in this article from Spain, 6000 years ago, people lived in close proximity to their dogs, even being buried with them. Unfortunately for the dog, they had to be sacrificed when the times dictated. This brings up the relationship between human and dog. Family friend and guard dog, or a ritual killing. So were those dogs at Cuween Hill members of a hunting tribe, or were they they ritually killed? Perhaps even representing the spirits of humans?
https://www.thelocal.es/20190301/spains-prehistoric-humans-loved-their-dogs-to-death
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Monganaut
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Re: Neolithic Pooch from Orkney Forensically Reconstructed
Apr 14, 2019, 19:13
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And more recently in the news. Inca mass burials of guinea pigs, with little wooly earings....curious.
https://www.newsweek.com/inca-guinea-pigs-ritual-sacrifice-jewelry-1392942
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