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Thousands of years later dog5/16/2023 ![]() ![]() Though much is still unknown, it is increasingly clear that this bond formed in the distant past not only shaped dogs into the animals we know today-but also helped drive the cultural progression of human society. ![]() “That’s why dogs are unlike any other domesticated animal that we have,” she adds. “There’s a million things a dog can do for you kind of all at once,” says zooarchaeologist Angela Perri, of the University of Durham in England. Canines and humans, through their dynamic interactions, have formed one of the most unique, complex, and mutually beneficial relationships in history. Price’s research comes at a moment when a growing number of archaeological finds and genetic analyses of ancient animal remains are adding layers of nuance to the story of domestication and partnership. “I think that that’s been colored by extant taboos in the West.” “Eating dogs, or possibly using them for skins, is a part of human behavior that we don’t like to talk about,” he says. While there were some discussions, he found dogs to be generally ignored as a major source of protein. How important were dogs as a food source in the past? He embarked on a dig through the academic literature, searching for examples of cynophagy: humans eating dogs. Cut marks and burns on the bones suggested people butchered and ate these animals-including the dogs.Įxamining the bones, Price-whose work has explored the use of pigs in the ancient Middle East-began to wonder about dogs in the context of other domesticated animals. Among the collection of bones from sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs, what caught his attention was the quantity of dog and wolf bones. ![]() The Oriental Institute scholars had sent Price some of these bones because he is a zooarchaeologist, an archaeologist who specializes in studying animal remains, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One particular building, with burned mud-brick walls, featured a collection of artifacts, including ancient stamp seals, a tortoise-shaped vessel, a stone mortar and pestle, and a large deposit of animal bones. In 2019, Max Price was studying bones collected from the site by colleagues from the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. This excavation site is a remnant of a period and place where the world’s first known urbanized civilization took shape as humans transitioned from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age around 7,000 years ago.Īrchaeologists have been digging at Surezha since 2013, uncovering insights into early human behavior and the evolution of society. On a dusty plain, east of the Tigris River in Iraqi-Kurdistan, lies the ancient settlement of Tell Surezha. ![]()
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