Dogs: Domestication and the Development of a Social Bond »

This book traces the evolution of the dog, from its origins about 15,000 years ago up to recent times. The timing of dog domestication receives attention, with comparisons between different genetics-based models and archaeological evidence. Allometric patterns between dogs and their ancestors, wolves, shed light on the nature of the morphological changes that dogs underwent. Dog burials highlight a unifying theme of the whole book: the development of a distinctive social bond between dogs and people; the book also explores why dogs and people relate so well to each other. Though cosmopolitan in overall scope, greatest emphasis is on the New World, with entire chapter devoted to dogs of the arctic regions, mostly in the New World. Discussion of several distinctive modern roles of dogs underscores the social bond between dogs and people.

List of Figures and Tables xi

Foreword Donald K. Grayson xv

Preface and Acknowledgments xix

1 Preamble to the Dog's Journey through Time 1

Previous Volumes about Dogs 2

This Volume about Dogs 7

2 Immediate Ancestry 12

Candidates for Dog Ancestry 14

The Genetic Near-identity of Dogs and Wolves 17

Which Wolf, or Wolves? 19

The Case of the Bonn-Oberkassel Dog 24

Other Early Possibilities 26

3 Evidence of Dog Domestication and Its Timing: Morphological and Contextual Indications 30

Allometric Patterns and Morphological Distinctions 31

Morphology, Genetics, and Domestication Timing 50

Dog Burials and Domestication Timing 53

4 Domestication of Dogs and Other Organisms 57

Historical Perspectives 57

Domestication as Evolution 67

The Domestication of the Dog 69

Why So Late? 81

The Human-Dog Domestic Relationship: Just What Is It? 83

5 The Roles of Dogs in Past Human Societies 86

Dogs as a Food Source 86

Transportation Uses 90

Dogs Used in Hunting 99

The Use of Dog Products 105

The Use of Dogs by Archaeologists 108

Closing Thoughts on the Past Uses of Dogs 111

6 Dogs of the Arctic, the Far North 112

The Arctic as a Region 112

Earliest Paleoeskimo Dogs 114

Dorset Dogs (?) 119

Thule Dogs 123

Recent Inuit Dogs 145

Closing Perspective on Thule/Inuit Dogs 148

7 The Burial of Dogs, and What Dog Burials Mean 150

Care in Burial 151

Archaic Dog Burials in the Green River Valley, Kentucky 168

The Ashkelon Phenomenon 177

Dogs and Spirituality: Beyond the Near East 183

Wolves and Spirituality 184

Cats: The Ancient Egypt Phenomenon 186

8 Why the Social Bond between Dogs and People? 188

The Relevance of Wolf Packs 189

Dogs' Behavioral and Brain Changes under Domestication 191

Auditory Communication 197

The Farm Fox Experiment 199

Why Not Foxes? 201

Dogs and Cats: A Genuine Contrast 204

Dog “Humanization” 206

9 Other Human-like Capabilities of Dogs 208

Search-and-Rescue Dogs 208

Musical Expression 214

Culture and Musical Expression 219

10 Roles of Dogs in Recent Times 226

War Dogs 227

Dogs in the Human Health Services 232

The Modern Mortuary Role of Dogs 238

Are Modern Dogs a Reliable Guide to Prehistoric Dogs? 241

Epilogue: One Dog's Journey 245

Appendix A 249

Appendix B 262

References 273

Index 349