HISTORY
Short history of The human-dog relationship
There is archaeological evidence dogs were the first animals domesticated by humans more than 30,000 years ago (more than 10,000 years before the domestication of horses and ruminants). This started when wolves began scavenging food scraps from humans, who then began to domesticate the wolves providing them with shelter and protection. In return, the wolves helped the human hunter-gatherers with hunting. As these domesticated wolves were breeding, over 1,000s of years they became dogs as we know them today.
Alongside evolution of the wolf’s physiology, there is evidence of the developing bond between humans and what we now call dogs. At a burial site in Predmosti (Czech Republic) a dog was discovered buried with a bone (believed to be from a mammoth) carefully placed in his mouth after death – it is believed to be 32,000 years old. In Ober-Kassel (Germany) the skeleton of a disabled dog was buried with the bodies of a man and of a woman; radiocarbon dating puts this at about 14,300 years ago. This is a unique early example of the developing connection; beyond uisng dogs for practical purposes only.
Other early dog burial sites were discovered in many other places; the mummified Black dog of Tumat in Russia is thought to be 12,450 years old, and in Israel at the Ain Mallaha Natufian settlement there are 12 individuals buried, one with their hand resting on the body of a small puppy (dating back at least 12,000 years).
From at least 6,000 years ago dogs were deified in many leading civilisations (Anubis in Egypt, Xolotl for the Mayas, Cerberus for the Greeks). Their role was either to accompany the deceased people to the other world (this stresses the guide role of dogs) or to guard the other world.
As dogs were evolving alongside humans, they are able to connect with us on a deeper level than many animals today.
