I am an archaeologist with primary interests in human-animal interactions, paleoecology, and paleoenvironments. My research largely focuses on the nature of human-environmental interactions by analyzing early relationships between humans, animals, climate, and landscapes. I am particularly interested in the effects of climate change on prehistoric animal biodiversity and human responses to these changes.
Advances in the isolation and sequencing of ancient DNA have begun to reveal the population histo... more Advances in the isolation and sequencing of ancient DNA have begun to reveal the population histories of both people and dogs. Over the last 10,000 y, the genetic signatures of ancient dog remains have been linked with known human dispersals in regions such as the Arctic and the remote Pacific. It is suspected, however, that this relationship has a much deeper antiquity, and that the tandem movement of people and dogs may have begun soon after the domestication of the dog from a gray wolf ancestor in the late Pleistocene. Here, by comparing population genetic results of humans and dogs from Siberia, Beringia, and North America, we show that there is a close correlation in the movement and divergences of their respective lineages. This evidence places constraints on when and where dog domestication took place. Most significantly, it suggests that dogs were domesticated in Siberia by ∼23,000 y ago, possibly while both people and wolves were isolated during the harsh climate of the Last Glacial Maximum. Dogs then accompanied the first people into the Americas and traveled with them as humans rapidly dispersed into the continent beginning ∼15,000 y ago.
Objective: Describe pathological features on internal and external aspects of the skull of an anc... more Objective: Describe pathological features on internal and external aspects of the skull of an ancient grey wolf. Materials: Wolf remains that were found at the southwestern settlement Area A of Gravettian site Pavlov I. Methods: Visual observation and description; microcomputed tomography; porosity and fragmentation indices for internal and external skull features; histological section of the fourth upper premolar tooth. Results: Dorsally, the sagittal crest revealed bone healing and remodeling. The sagittal lesion differential diagnosis was blunt trauma with or without fracture. Ventrally, otic region pathology included severe proliferation and lysis (osteomyelitis). The pathology was not resolvable among differential (microbial) causes of osteo-myelitis, although other potential etiologies were ruled out. Conclusions: Probable first report of otic region osteomyelitis in an ancient grey wolf. Significance: The proximity of the wolf remains to human-related findings, and presence of red ochre and shells, suggest human involvement in the burial. Limitations: This is a single specimen with differential diagnoses that were not resolvable to a single definitive diagnosis. Suggestions for Further Research: Further investigation of the possible anthropological significance of the burial circumstances.
Shotgun metagenomics applied to archaeological feces (paleofeces) can bring new insights into the... more Shotgun metagenomics applied to archaeological feces (paleofeces) can bring new insights into the composition and functions of human and animal gut microbiota from the past. However, paleofeces often undergo physical distortions in archaeological sediments, making their source species difficult to identify on the basis of fecal morphology or microscopic features alone. Here we present a reproducible and scalable pipeline using both host and microbial DNA to infer the host source of fecal material. We apply this pipeline to newly sequenced archaeological How to cite this article
Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are one of the few large terrestrial carnivores that have maintained a ... more Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are one of the few large terrestrial carnivores that have maintained a wide geographic distribution across the Northern Hemisphere throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Recent genetic studies have suggested that, despite this continuous presence, major demographic changes occurred in wolf populations between the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, and that extant wolves trace their ancestry to a single late Pleistocene population. Both the geographic origin of this ancestral population and how it became widespread remain unknown. Here, we used a spatially and temporally explicit modelling framework to analyse a dataset of 90 modern and 45 ancient mitochondrial wolf genomes from across the Northern Hemisphere, spanning the last 50,000 years. Our results suggest that contemporary wolf populations trace their ancestry to an expansion from Beringia at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, and that this process was most likely driven by Late Pleistocene ecological fluctuations that occurred across the Northern Hemisphere. This study provides direct ancient genetic evidence that long‐range migration has played an important role in the population history of a large carnivore, and provides an insight into how wolves survived the wave of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last glaciation. Moreover, because late Pleistocene grey wolves were the likely source from which all modern dogs trace their origins, the demographic history described in this study has fundamental implications for understanding the geographical origin of the dog.
Domestic dogs have been central to life in the North American Arctic for millennia. The ancestors... more Domestic dogs have been central to life in the North American Arctic for millennia. The ancestors of the Inuit were the first to introduce the widespread usage of dog sledge transportation technology to the Americas, but whether the Inuit adopted local Palaeo-Inuit dogs or introduced a new dog population to the region remains unknown. To test these hypotheses, we generated mitochondrial DNA and geometric morphometric data of skull and dental elements from a total of 922 North American Arctic dogs and wolves spanning over 4500 years. Our analyses revealed that dogs from Inuit sites dating from 2000 BP possess morphological and genetic signatures that distinguish them from earlier Palaeo-Inuit dogs, and identified a novel mitochondrial clade in eastern Siberia and Alaska. The genetic legacy of these Inuit dogs survives today in modern Arctic sledge dogs despite phenotypic differences between archaeological and modern Arctic dogs. Together, our data reveal that Inuit dogs derive from a secondary pre-contact migration of dogs distinct from Palaeo-Inuit dogs, and probably aided the Inuit expansion across the North American Arctic beginning around 1000 BP.
The ritual human burials and scattered fragments of human bones excavated from Dolní Věstonice II... more The ritual human burials and scattered fragments of human bones excavated from Dolní Věstonice II and Pavlov I (Czech Republic) in the 20th century provide a large body of evidence on morphology and funerary practices in the Gravettian as well as the population history of European Homo sapiens during the Upper Palaeolithic. A series of radiocarbon dates on charcoal and animal bone places the occupation of the sites predominantly between 31,000-29,000 cal BP (Early-Evolved Pavlovian) but direct radiocarbon dating of the human remains has not been previously undertaken. In 2013, human bones from Dolní Věstonice II and Pavlov I were sampled for aDNA analysis, including three skeletons from a triple burial (DV13, DV14, DV15), two skeletons from single burials (Pav1, DV16) and two unarticulated human bones (DV42, DV43). Small amounts of bone material were left over from the aDNA sampling, providing the first opportunity to directly date seven of the human individuals. Non-destructive pre-screening with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy indicated that sufficient collagen was preserved in the bone material for radiocarbon dating. We sampled very small amounts (32-202 mg) of bone material for collagen extraction, ultrafiltration and accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) dating. Each collagen extract was dated multiple times using both graphite targets (ca. 800 μg C) and the gas ion source (< 100 μg C) of the AixMICADAS to obtain accurate and precise radiocarbon ages. The direct dates confirm the Pavlovian origin of the human remains and indicate that several of the radiocarbon dates carried out in the 1980s on associated charcoals were likely affected by low-level contamination of modern carbon. The results add seven individuals to the small collection of reliably dated Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe.
Dietary reconstruction via stable isotope analysis is an important part of the study of past popu... more Dietary reconstruction via stable isotope analysis is an important part of the study of past populations, but can raise issues in many parts of the world where human remains are scarce, absent, or restricted due to ethical concerns. Given these issues, some researchers have used domesticated dogs as human dietary proxies via the Canine Surrogacy Approach (CSA). We performed carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis on the hair of 304 humans and 57 dogs from 45 households in two contemporary indigenous communities in Nicaragua’s Bosawas Biosphere Reserve to explore whether dogs function as dietary proxies for their human owners in this Neotropical horticulturalist context. While CSA is broadly viable at these study sites, on a more precise scale the diets of dogs do not reflect the diets of their owners. This raises questions about the applicability of CSA to archaeological contexts, suggesting that relying on dogs as dietary proxies may overlook key variation in past human diets.
The domestication of dogs likely occurred in Eurasia by 16,000 years ago, and the initial peoplin... more The domestication of dogs likely occurred in Eurasia by 16,000 years ago, and the initial peopling of the Americas potentially happened around the same time. Dogs were long thought to have accompanied the first migrations into the Americas, but conclusive evidence for Paleoindian dogs is lacking. In this study, the direct dating of two dogs from the Koster site (Greene County, Illinois) and a newly described dog from the Stilwell II site (Pike County, Illinois) to between 10,190 and 9,630 cal BP represents the earliest confirmed evidence of domestic dogs in the Americas and individual dog burials anywhere in the world. Analysis of these animals shows Early Archaic dogs were medium sized, lived active lifestyles, and exhibited significant morphological variation. Stable isotope analyses suggest diets dominated by terrestrial C 3 resources and substantial consumption of riverine fish.
Morphological and morphometric bone variation between archaeological wolves and the oldest domest... more Morphological and morphometric bone variation between archaeological wolves and the oldest domestic dogs commonly are used to define species differences. However, reference data often have been based on small numbers, without robust statistical support. We consulted the literature on these matters in all possible languages and tested many of the proposed species differences by examining wolf and dog skeletons from several collections, accompanied by an extensive synthesis of existing literature. We thus created large reference groups, assessing data distributions and variability. We examined mandible height, width, length, and convexity; contact points of the skull on a horizontal plane; caudal shifting of the border of the hard palate; skull size; carnassials tooth size reduction; micro-anatomical differences in teeth, snout, and skull height; and snout length and width. Our results show that skull length and related size; skull height; snout width; orbital angle; P4 and M1 mesio-distal diameter can help (albeit to a limited extent) to distinguish the oldest archaeological dogs from wolves. Based on our observations, we re-evaluated recent large Pleistocene canids reported as Paleolithic dogs and concluded instead that they fit well within the morphomentric distributions seen with Pleistocene wolves. The research presented here reflects the recent trend to critically re-evaluate axiomatic assumptions about wolf-dog differences, and to rephrase the morphological and morphometric definition of an early archaeological dog in a more suitable manner. These results are important to the international archaeological community because they place historical reports in a newer context, and create a robust (although narrow) framework for further evaluation of archaeological dogs and wolves.
Archaeoparasitology is increasingly being used as a tool in archaeological research to investigat... more Archaeoparasitology is increasingly being used as a tool in archaeological research to investigate relationships between past humans, environments, diets and disease. It can be particularly useful in contexts where parasite eggs preserve, but human and faunal remains do not, including in the identification of disease and/or dietary items otherwise absent from the local archaeological record. We analyzed soil samples from the Late Mesolithic layers of the lake island site of Derragh in County Longford, Ireland. All samples were positive for the presence of Diphyllobothrium sp., an intestinal fish tapeworm that infects humans, causing diphyllobothriasis. Though fish are thought to be a staple food in Mesolithic Ireland, evidence for fishing and subsistence from this period is extremely fragmentary. Similarly, there is little available evidence for disease, primarily due to the lack of human remains. This finding represents the earliest known presence of human-derived parasites in Ireland, the earliest known finding of Diphyllobothrium sp. in Europe and the only finding of the tapeworm from hunter-gatherer contexts. It suggests parasitic infections, particularly those resulting from undercooked food, may be more common in ancient hunter-gatherer populations than previously suspected. The presence of these zoonotic parasites at hunter-gatherer sites can provide important insight into local environments, health and disease, and culinary practices. In locations like Mesolithic Ireland, the presence of parasites may assist in the identification of subsistence activities, such as fishing, and specific prey.
Dogs were present in the Americas before the arrival of European colonists, but the origin and fa... more Dogs were present in the Americas before the arrival of European colonists, but the origin and fate of these precontact dogs are largely unknown. We sequenced 71 mitochondrial and 7 nuclear genomes from ancient North American and Siberian dogs from time frames spanning ~9000 years. Our analysis indicates that American dogs were not derived from North American wolves. Instead, American dogs form a monophyletic lineage that likely originated in Siberia and dispersed into the Americas alongside people. After the arrival of Europeans, native American dogs almost completely disappeared, leaving a minimal genetic legacy in modern dog populations. The closest detectable extant lineage to precontact American dogs is the canine transmissible venereal tumor, a contagious cancer clone derived from an individual dog that lived up to 8000 years ago.
Objectives: We measured carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios in a contemporary population , and te... more Objectives: We measured carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios in a contemporary population , and tested how the isotopic variability relates to measures of socioeconomic status (e.g., household wealth) and anthropometric measures (e.g., standardized height-forage and weight-forage z-scores).
This paper combines complex archaeological records from excavations of sandstone rockshelters wit... more This paper combines complex archaeological records from excavations of sandstone rockshelters with paleobotanical investigations in the adjacent wetlands of Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic. Several pollen diagramms from nearby peatbogs are used to document the paleoenvironmental development from the Late Glacial to the Middle Holocene. In addition, two recently excavated key archaeological sections were selected to document human behavioral responses to the climatic development: Kostelní rokle, and Smolný kámen. This region remained mostly unsettled during the Upper Paleolithic (Magdalenian or Epigravettian) so that the Late Paleolithic colonization after the LGM appears to be a major behavioral adaptation. The Early and Middle Mesolithic foragers developed this pattern to be optimally adapted to the versatile landscape of sandstone plateaus and canyons during the Holocene. The aim was to exploit its changing vegetational, aquatic and terrestric faunal resources, until the Late Mesolithic.
The study of fossil parasites can provide insight into the antiquity of host-parasite relationshi... more The study of fossil parasites can provide insight into the antiquity of host-parasite relationships and the origins and evolution of these paleoparasites. Here, a coprolite (fossilized feces) from the 1.2-million-year-old paleontological site of Haro River Quarry in northwestern Pakistan was analyzed for paleoparasites. Micromorphological thin sectioning and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) analysis confirms the coprolite belonged to a bone-eating carnivore, likely the extinct giant short-faced hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostris). Parasitological analysis shows the coprolite to be positive for Toxocara sp. To our knowledge, this is the earliest evidence for Toxocara sp. found.
Was the use of hunting dogs an adaptation to the post-glacial deciduous forest environment in the... more Was the use of hunting dogs an adaptation to the post-glacial deciduous forest environment in the northern temperate zone? Dog burials in Jomon Japan appear closely associated with a specific environment and with a related subsistence economy involving the hunting of forest ungulates such as sika deer and wild boar. Dogs were valued as important hunting technology, able to track and retrieve wounded animals in difficult, forested environments, or holding them until the hunter made the final kill. Greater numbers of dog burials during the later Jomon phases may reflect a growing dependence on hunting dogs to extract ungulate prey from forests in an increasingly resource-strained seasonal environment.
The geographic and temporal origins of dogs remain controversial. We generated genetic sequences ... more The geographic and temporal origins of dogs remain controversial. We generated genetic sequences from 59 ancient dogs and a complete (28x) genome of a late Neolithic dog (dated to ~4800 calendar years before the present) from Ireland. Our analyses revealed a deep split separating modern East Asian and Western Eurasian dogs. Surprisingly, the date of this divergence (~14,000 to 6400 years ago) occurs commensurate with, or several millennia after, the first appearance of dogs in Europe and East Asia. Additional analyses of ancient and modern mitochondrial DNA revealed a sharp discontinuity in haplotype frequencies in Europe. Combined, these results suggest that dogs may have been domesticated independently in Eastern and Western Eurasia from distinct wolf populations. East Eurasian dogs were then possibly transported to Europe with people, where they partially replaced European Paleolithic dogs.
The process and timing of initial dog domestication is an important topic in human evolution and ... more The process and timing of initial dog domestication is an important topic in human evolution and one which has inspired much recent debate. Findings of putative domesticated dogs have recently been reported from two Gravettian sites by Germonpre et al. (2015a), joining a handful of other reputed " Paleolithic dogs " dating to before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Though these findings have been challenged previously, this paper draws attention to the most significant shortcoming in claims of early domesticated dogs e a lack of data on Pleistocene wolf variation. Without comprehensive data on the range of variation within Pleistocene wolf populations, the identification of domesticated dogs from prior to the Late Upper Paleolithic cannot be conclusively accepted or rejected.
The Elizabeth site is a bluff-top mortuary mound group constructed and primarily used during Hope... more The Elizabeth site is a bluff-top mortuary mound group constructed and primarily used during Hopewellian (Middle Woodland) times. Recent reanalysis of nonhuman skeletal remains from the site reveals that an intentional burial previously identified as a dog (Canis familiaris) is actually an immature bobcat (Lynx rufus). As a result of this discovery, we reevaluated eight other purported animal burials from Illinois Middle Woodland mounds, including seven dogs and a roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). The dogs all appear to be intrusive or unrelated burial events, but both the bobcat and the roseate spoonbill were definite Hopewellian mortuary interments. The roseate spoonbill was decapitated and placed beside a double human burial. But the bobcat was a separate, human-like interment wearing a necklace of shell beads and effigy bear canine teeth. To our knowledge, this is the only decorated wild cat burial in the archaeological record. It provides compelling evidence for a complex relationship between felids and humans in the prehistoric Americas, including possible taming.
Advances in the isolation and sequencing of ancient DNA have begun to reveal the population histo... more Advances in the isolation and sequencing of ancient DNA have begun to reveal the population histories of both people and dogs. Over the last 10,000 y, the genetic signatures of ancient dog remains have been linked with known human dispersals in regions such as the Arctic and the remote Pacific. It is suspected, however, that this relationship has a much deeper antiquity, and that the tandem movement of people and dogs may have begun soon after the domestication of the dog from a gray wolf ancestor in the late Pleistocene. Here, by comparing population genetic results of humans and dogs from Siberia, Beringia, and North America, we show that there is a close correlation in the movement and divergences of their respective lineages. This evidence places constraints on when and where dog domestication took place. Most significantly, it suggests that dogs were domesticated in Siberia by ∼23,000 y ago, possibly while both people and wolves were isolated during the harsh climate of the Last Glacial Maximum. Dogs then accompanied the first people into the Americas and traveled with them as humans rapidly dispersed into the continent beginning ∼15,000 y ago.
Objective: Describe pathological features on internal and external aspects of the skull of an anc... more Objective: Describe pathological features on internal and external aspects of the skull of an ancient grey wolf. Materials: Wolf remains that were found at the southwestern settlement Area A of Gravettian site Pavlov I. Methods: Visual observation and description; microcomputed tomography; porosity and fragmentation indices for internal and external skull features; histological section of the fourth upper premolar tooth. Results: Dorsally, the sagittal crest revealed bone healing and remodeling. The sagittal lesion differential diagnosis was blunt trauma with or without fracture. Ventrally, otic region pathology included severe proliferation and lysis (osteomyelitis). The pathology was not resolvable among differential (microbial) causes of osteo-myelitis, although other potential etiologies were ruled out. Conclusions: Probable first report of otic region osteomyelitis in an ancient grey wolf. Significance: The proximity of the wolf remains to human-related findings, and presence of red ochre and shells, suggest human involvement in the burial. Limitations: This is a single specimen with differential diagnoses that were not resolvable to a single definitive diagnosis. Suggestions for Further Research: Further investigation of the possible anthropological significance of the burial circumstances.
Shotgun metagenomics applied to archaeological feces (paleofeces) can bring new insights into the... more Shotgun metagenomics applied to archaeological feces (paleofeces) can bring new insights into the composition and functions of human and animal gut microbiota from the past. However, paleofeces often undergo physical distortions in archaeological sediments, making their source species difficult to identify on the basis of fecal morphology or microscopic features alone. Here we present a reproducible and scalable pipeline using both host and microbial DNA to infer the host source of fecal material. We apply this pipeline to newly sequenced archaeological How to cite this article
Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are one of the few large terrestrial carnivores that have maintained a ... more Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are one of the few large terrestrial carnivores that have maintained a wide geographic distribution across the Northern Hemisphere throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Recent genetic studies have suggested that, despite this continuous presence, major demographic changes occurred in wolf populations between the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, and that extant wolves trace their ancestry to a single late Pleistocene population. Both the geographic origin of this ancestral population and how it became widespread remain unknown. Here, we used a spatially and temporally explicit modelling framework to analyse a dataset of 90 modern and 45 ancient mitochondrial wolf genomes from across the Northern Hemisphere, spanning the last 50,000 years. Our results suggest that contemporary wolf populations trace their ancestry to an expansion from Beringia at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, and that this process was most likely driven by Late Pleistocene ecological fluctuations that occurred across the Northern Hemisphere. This study provides direct ancient genetic evidence that long‐range migration has played an important role in the population history of a large carnivore, and provides an insight into how wolves survived the wave of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last glaciation. Moreover, because late Pleistocene grey wolves were the likely source from which all modern dogs trace their origins, the demographic history described in this study has fundamental implications for understanding the geographical origin of the dog.
Domestic dogs have been central to life in the North American Arctic for millennia. The ancestors... more Domestic dogs have been central to life in the North American Arctic for millennia. The ancestors of the Inuit were the first to introduce the widespread usage of dog sledge transportation technology to the Americas, but whether the Inuit adopted local Palaeo-Inuit dogs or introduced a new dog population to the region remains unknown. To test these hypotheses, we generated mitochondrial DNA and geometric morphometric data of skull and dental elements from a total of 922 North American Arctic dogs and wolves spanning over 4500 years. Our analyses revealed that dogs from Inuit sites dating from 2000 BP possess morphological and genetic signatures that distinguish them from earlier Palaeo-Inuit dogs, and identified a novel mitochondrial clade in eastern Siberia and Alaska. The genetic legacy of these Inuit dogs survives today in modern Arctic sledge dogs despite phenotypic differences between archaeological and modern Arctic dogs. Together, our data reveal that Inuit dogs derive from a secondary pre-contact migration of dogs distinct from Palaeo-Inuit dogs, and probably aided the Inuit expansion across the North American Arctic beginning around 1000 BP.
The ritual human burials and scattered fragments of human bones excavated from Dolní Věstonice II... more The ritual human burials and scattered fragments of human bones excavated from Dolní Věstonice II and Pavlov I (Czech Republic) in the 20th century provide a large body of evidence on morphology and funerary practices in the Gravettian as well as the population history of European Homo sapiens during the Upper Palaeolithic. A series of radiocarbon dates on charcoal and animal bone places the occupation of the sites predominantly between 31,000-29,000 cal BP (Early-Evolved Pavlovian) but direct radiocarbon dating of the human remains has not been previously undertaken. In 2013, human bones from Dolní Věstonice II and Pavlov I were sampled for aDNA analysis, including three skeletons from a triple burial (DV13, DV14, DV15), two skeletons from single burials (Pav1, DV16) and two unarticulated human bones (DV42, DV43). Small amounts of bone material were left over from the aDNA sampling, providing the first opportunity to directly date seven of the human individuals. Non-destructive pre-screening with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy indicated that sufficient collagen was preserved in the bone material for radiocarbon dating. We sampled very small amounts (32-202 mg) of bone material for collagen extraction, ultrafiltration and accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) dating. Each collagen extract was dated multiple times using both graphite targets (ca. 800 μg C) and the gas ion source (< 100 μg C) of the AixMICADAS to obtain accurate and precise radiocarbon ages. The direct dates confirm the Pavlovian origin of the human remains and indicate that several of the radiocarbon dates carried out in the 1980s on associated charcoals were likely affected by low-level contamination of modern carbon. The results add seven individuals to the small collection of reliably dated Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe.
Dietary reconstruction via stable isotope analysis is an important part of the study of past popu... more Dietary reconstruction via stable isotope analysis is an important part of the study of past populations, but can raise issues in many parts of the world where human remains are scarce, absent, or restricted due to ethical concerns. Given these issues, some researchers have used domesticated dogs as human dietary proxies via the Canine Surrogacy Approach (CSA). We performed carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis on the hair of 304 humans and 57 dogs from 45 households in two contemporary indigenous communities in Nicaragua’s Bosawas Biosphere Reserve to explore whether dogs function as dietary proxies for their human owners in this Neotropical horticulturalist context. While CSA is broadly viable at these study sites, on a more precise scale the diets of dogs do not reflect the diets of their owners. This raises questions about the applicability of CSA to archaeological contexts, suggesting that relying on dogs as dietary proxies may overlook key variation in past human diets.
The domestication of dogs likely occurred in Eurasia by 16,000 years ago, and the initial peoplin... more The domestication of dogs likely occurred in Eurasia by 16,000 years ago, and the initial peopling of the Americas potentially happened around the same time. Dogs were long thought to have accompanied the first migrations into the Americas, but conclusive evidence for Paleoindian dogs is lacking. In this study, the direct dating of two dogs from the Koster site (Greene County, Illinois) and a newly described dog from the Stilwell II site (Pike County, Illinois) to between 10,190 and 9,630 cal BP represents the earliest confirmed evidence of domestic dogs in the Americas and individual dog burials anywhere in the world. Analysis of these animals shows Early Archaic dogs were medium sized, lived active lifestyles, and exhibited significant morphological variation. Stable isotope analyses suggest diets dominated by terrestrial C 3 resources and substantial consumption of riverine fish.
Morphological and morphometric bone variation between archaeological wolves and the oldest domest... more Morphological and morphometric bone variation between archaeological wolves and the oldest domestic dogs commonly are used to define species differences. However, reference data often have been based on small numbers, without robust statistical support. We consulted the literature on these matters in all possible languages and tested many of the proposed species differences by examining wolf and dog skeletons from several collections, accompanied by an extensive synthesis of existing literature. We thus created large reference groups, assessing data distributions and variability. We examined mandible height, width, length, and convexity; contact points of the skull on a horizontal plane; caudal shifting of the border of the hard palate; skull size; carnassials tooth size reduction; micro-anatomical differences in teeth, snout, and skull height; and snout length and width. Our results show that skull length and related size; skull height; snout width; orbital angle; P4 and M1 mesio-distal diameter can help (albeit to a limited extent) to distinguish the oldest archaeological dogs from wolves. Based on our observations, we re-evaluated recent large Pleistocene canids reported as Paleolithic dogs and concluded instead that they fit well within the morphomentric distributions seen with Pleistocene wolves. The research presented here reflects the recent trend to critically re-evaluate axiomatic assumptions about wolf-dog differences, and to rephrase the morphological and morphometric definition of an early archaeological dog in a more suitable manner. These results are important to the international archaeological community because they place historical reports in a newer context, and create a robust (although narrow) framework for further evaluation of archaeological dogs and wolves.
Archaeoparasitology is increasingly being used as a tool in archaeological research to investigat... more Archaeoparasitology is increasingly being used as a tool in archaeological research to investigate relationships between past humans, environments, diets and disease. It can be particularly useful in contexts where parasite eggs preserve, but human and faunal remains do not, including in the identification of disease and/or dietary items otherwise absent from the local archaeological record. We analyzed soil samples from the Late Mesolithic layers of the lake island site of Derragh in County Longford, Ireland. All samples were positive for the presence of Diphyllobothrium sp., an intestinal fish tapeworm that infects humans, causing diphyllobothriasis. Though fish are thought to be a staple food in Mesolithic Ireland, evidence for fishing and subsistence from this period is extremely fragmentary. Similarly, there is little available evidence for disease, primarily due to the lack of human remains. This finding represents the earliest known presence of human-derived parasites in Ireland, the earliest known finding of Diphyllobothrium sp. in Europe and the only finding of the tapeworm from hunter-gatherer contexts. It suggests parasitic infections, particularly those resulting from undercooked food, may be more common in ancient hunter-gatherer populations than previously suspected. The presence of these zoonotic parasites at hunter-gatherer sites can provide important insight into local environments, health and disease, and culinary practices. In locations like Mesolithic Ireland, the presence of parasites may assist in the identification of subsistence activities, such as fishing, and specific prey.
Dogs were present in the Americas before the arrival of European colonists, but the origin and fa... more Dogs were present in the Americas before the arrival of European colonists, but the origin and fate of these precontact dogs are largely unknown. We sequenced 71 mitochondrial and 7 nuclear genomes from ancient North American and Siberian dogs from time frames spanning ~9000 years. Our analysis indicates that American dogs were not derived from North American wolves. Instead, American dogs form a monophyletic lineage that likely originated in Siberia and dispersed into the Americas alongside people. After the arrival of Europeans, native American dogs almost completely disappeared, leaving a minimal genetic legacy in modern dog populations. The closest detectable extant lineage to precontact American dogs is the canine transmissible venereal tumor, a contagious cancer clone derived from an individual dog that lived up to 8000 years ago.
Objectives: We measured carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios in a contemporary population , and te... more Objectives: We measured carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios in a contemporary population , and tested how the isotopic variability relates to measures of socioeconomic status (e.g., household wealth) and anthropometric measures (e.g., standardized height-forage and weight-forage z-scores).
This paper combines complex archaeological records from excavations of sandstone rockshelters wit... more This paper combines complex archaeological records from excavations of sandstone rockshelters with paleobotanical investigations in the adjacent wetlands of Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic. Several pollen diagramms from nearby peatbogs are used to document the paleoenvironmental development from the Late Glacial to the Middle Holocene. In addition, two recently excavated key archaeological sections were selected to document human behavioral responses to the climatic development: Kostelní rokle, and Smolný kámen. This region remained mostly unsettled during the Upper Paleolithic (Magdalenian or Epigravettian) so that the Late Paleolithic colonization after the LGM appears to be a major behavioral adaptation. The Early and Middle Mesolithic foragers developed this pattern to be optimally adapted to the versatile landscape of sandstone plateaus and canyons during the Holocene. The aim was to exploit its changing vegetational, aquatic and terrestric faunal resources, until the Late Mesolithic.
The study of fossil parasites can provide insight into the antiquity of host-parasite relationshi... more The study of fossil parasites can provide insight into the antiquity of host-parasite relationships and the origins and evolution of these paleoparasites. Here, a coprolite (fossilized feces) from the 1.2-million-year-old paleontological site of Haro River Quarry in northwestern Pakistan was analyzed for paleoparasites. Micromorphological thin sectioning and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) analysis confirms the coprolite belonged to a bone-eating carnivore, likely the extinct giant short-faced hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostris). Parasitological analysis shows the coprolite to be positive for Toxocara sp. To our knowledge, this is the earliest evidence for Toxocara sp. found.
Was the use of hunting dogs an adaptation to the post-glacial deciduous forest environment in the... more Was the use of hunting dogs an adaptation to the post-glacial deciduous forest environment in the northern temperate zone? Dog burials in Jomon Japan appear closely associated with a specific environment and with a related subsistence economy involving the hunting of forest ungulates such as sika deer and wild boar. Dogs were valued as important hunting technology, able to track and retrieve wounded animals in difficult, forested environments, or holding them until the hunter made the final kill. Greater numbers of dog burials during the later Jomon phases may reflect a growing dependence on hunting dogs to extract ungulate prey from forests in an increasingly resource-strained seasonal environment.
The geographic and temporal origins of dogs remain controversial. We generated genetic sequences ... more The geographic and temporal origins of dogs remain controversial. We generated genetic sequences from 59 ancient dogs and a complete (28x) genome of a late Neolithic dog (dated to ~4800 calendar years before the present) from Ireland. Our analyses revealed a deep split separating modern East Asian and Western Eurasian dogs. Surprisingly, the date of this divergence (~14,000 to 6400 years ago) occurs commensurate with, or several millennia after, the first appearance of dogs in Europe and East Asia. Additional analyses of ancient and modern mitochondrial DNA revealed a sharp discontinuity in haplotype frequencies in Europe. Combined, these results suggest that dogs may have been domesticated independently in Eastern and Western Eurasia from distinct wolf populations. East Eurasian dogs were then possibly transported to Europe with people, where they partially replaced European Paleolithic dogs.
The process and timing of initial dog domestication is an important topic in human evolution and ... more The process and timing of initial dog domestication is an important topic in human evolution and one which has inspired much recent debate. Findings of putative domesticated dogs have recently been reported from two Gravettian sites by Germonpre et al. (2015a), joining a handful of other reputed " Paleolithic dogs " dating to before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Though these findings have been challenged previously, this paper draws attention to the most significant shortcoming in claims of early domesticated dogs e a lack of data on Pleistocene wolf variation. Without comprehensive data on the range of variation within Pleistocene wolf populations, the identification of domesticated dogs from prior to the Late Upper Paleolithic cannot be conclusively accepted or rejected.
The Elizabeth site is a bluff-top mortuary mound group constructed and primarily used during Hope... more The Elizabeth site is a bluff-top mortuary mound group constructed and primarily used during Hopewellian (Middle Woodland) times. Recent reanalysis of nonhuman skeletal remains from the site reveals that an intentional burial previously identified as a dog (Canis familiaris) is actually an immature bobcat (Lynx rufus). As a result of this discovery, we reevaluated eight other purported animal burials from Illinois Middle Woodland mounds, including seven dogs and a roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). The dogs all appear to be intrusive or unrelated burial events, but both the bobcat and the roseate spoonbill were definite Hopewellian mortuary interments. The roseate spoonbill was decapitated and placed beside a double human burial. But the bobcat was a separate, human-like interment wearing a necklace of shell beads and effigy bear canine teeth. To our knowledge, this is the only decorated wild cat burial in the archaeological record. It provides compelling evidence for a complex relationship between felids and humans in the prehistoric Americas, including possible taming.
Species reidentification and burial context analysis
of 34 artifacts made from the cut-and-drille... more Species reidentification and burial context analysis of 34 artifacts made from the cut-and-drilled mandibles and maxillae of coyotes, wolves, cougars, and bears recovered from Illinois Hopewellian mounds over the past century provide new perspectives on the variety of forms, mortuary associations, species-specific uses, and symbolic significance of these artifacts. Fragments of eight modified canid and felid “predator jaw” artifacts, including those from five canids (three probable coyotes and two wolves), a cougar, and a bobcat, are also documented from four west-central Illinois Middle Woodland habitation sites. Correcting the distressingly common species misidentifications of these artifacts in the archaeological literature has also led to new interpretations of the modification and use of 14 black bear maxillae artifacts, many of which are identified here for the first time, found in Illinois Hopewellian mortuary contexts.
"In recent years research in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic worldwide has been breaking boundari... more "In recent years research in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic worldwide has been breaking boundaries, such as pushing back the earliest dates for the human occupation of Britain, the identification of a new species of hominin, cracking the Neanderthal genome and the discovery of the UK’s earliest Mesolithic house. This volume, which is the culmination of a highly successful two-day conference, aims to celebrate this trend with papers from both postgraduates and established academics, presenting new research from a variety of geographical and methodological perspectives.
The Where the Wild Things Are conference, which was held at Durham University on 24-25 March 2012, attracted some 128 delegates from some eighteen countries and allowed a wide range of researchers within the fields of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeology to present over fifty papers that demonstrated the breadth of new and innovative advances in the analysis and understanding of these periods. The mixture of contributors from a diverse range of backgrounds allowed for a greater degree of interdisciplinary discourse that is not often seen at similar conferences, where the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic are generally split apart.
The papers that have been proposed for this volume bring the ideas and interpretations set forth at the Wild Things conference to the wider archaeological audience. Collecting contributions from archaeologists conducting research within the British Isles, France, Portugal, Denmark, Russia, the Levant and Europe as a whole, this volume aims to present a cross-section of the exciting range of research currently being conducted to improve our understanding of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. By combining papers that discuss these two periods together, it is hoped that further dialogue between practitioners of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic research can be encouraged. "
Handbook for the Analysis of Micro-Particles in Archaeological Samples, 2020
Ancient parasite studies depend on the recovery of parasite remains from archaeological material.... more Ancient parasite studies depend on the recovery of parasite remains from archaeological material. Collection strategies, sample processing, and the use of parasitological techniques are essential to perform the analyses without loss of microremains and also to interpret the data obtained by correlating with the archaeological information. Together with the methods of analyses, the identification and differentiation between these microremains and others commonly observed in the processed samples, such as pollen grains, plant spores, fungi spores, and others, are essential so that no misdiagnosis occurs, resulting in misinterpretation of the health situation of an ancient population. All ancient parasite studies require an evaluation and discussion of taphonomy, based on the factors identified in each archaeological site. Paleoparasitology does not only require the identification of parasite remains in samples, but it involves a set of strategies, meticulous training, and application of multiple concepts in order to clarify the infection/disease process in ancient populations. In this chapter, the importance of paleoparasitology is discussed, and strategies and recommendations on sample collection, sample processing, use of parasitological techniques, and researcher training are presented. Taphonomic aspects related to experimental studies in specific sites are discussed. This chapter aims to orient those interested in the field and guide the community toward establishing principles of preservation applicable in all types of archaeological remains in which eggs can be recovered.
Domestication is the result of a complex interplay of both biological and cultural processes. The... more Domestication is the result of a complex interplay of both biological and cultural processes. The mechanisms underlying today's variety of domesticates has long sparked the interest of researchers but has always been difficult to define. While dogs (Canis familiaris) are now firmly established as the earliest domesticated animal, most questions about their domestication are still unresolved, including the location, the timing, and potential drivers of domestication. Genetic evidence accumulated over the last 20 years unequivocally identified Canis lupus – a grey wolf-as the species giving rise to all modern dogs and suggested locations including Eastern Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe as potential domestication origins. Inferences about the timing of dog domestication are equally controversial. A date in the latest Upper Paleolithic, between 15,000-12,000 years ago, has long been the accepted timing of domestication due to clear archaeological evidence of morphologically distinct modern dogs by this time and more recent genetic findings have confirmed the onset of dog domestication in the late Pleistocene. In order to disentangle the complexity and thus derive a comprehensive understanding of dog domestication, we need to develop evolutionary models that include all available evidence from archaeology, morphology and genetics. While time travel is still fiction, and studying domestication at the moment of action impossible, paleogenomic approaches provide intriguing prospects and necessary means to decipher the many facets of domestication and deliver such evidence. Consequently, recent paleogenomic work has proposed a dual domestication process in Europe and Eastern Asia, which might be a first step towards reconciling some of the previous divergent conclusions.
The close connection between humans and dogs in the prehistoric past, often with a focus on
a hu... more The close connection between humans and dogs in the prehistoric past, often with a focus on
a hunting relationship, has long been proposed, yet has rarely been evaluated. This thesis
investigates parallels in environment, culture, adaptation and dog mortuary phenomenon
among three complex hunter-gatherer groups in the early Holocene. Although dog
domestication appears to have occurred in the late Upper Palaeolithic, the first instances of
intentional, individual dog burials are not seen until after the Pleistocene-Holocene
Transition. These burials appear nearly simultaneously among culturally and geographically
unrelated early Holocene complex hunter-gatherers in three distinct locations: the midsouth
United States, northern Europe and eastern Japan; coinciding with the onset of significant
postglacial warming that triggered dramatic environmental change throughout the northern
temperate zone; specifically the establishment of temperate deciduous forests. Along with
this new environment came new ungulate prey species, and with the new prey species
important hunting adaptations by humans. Ethnozooarchaeological fieldwork conducted
with modern hunters in the United States and Japan, along with additional ethnographic
material confirms the use of hunting dogs in temperate deciduous forests as a preferred
method which yields improved results, in contrast to boreal forests or open tundra, where
dogs can be a detriment. In densely forested environments, prey species often rely on
concealment, rather than flight, to escape predators and human hunters. Dogs give vital
assistance to hunters in these conditions, performing superhuman tasks such as locating
concealed prey, tracking wounded animals, and bringing them to bay. This thesis presents a
previously unidentified link between the first worldwide occurrences of individual,
intentional dog burials and changes in hunting environments and prey species brought about
by early Holocene climate change.
Prehistoric rock art found in Saudi Arabia could be the world's first images of dogs.
They depic... more Prehistoric rock art found in Saudi Arabia could be the world's first images of dogs.
They depict the animals hunting with humans — and some of them even appear to be on a leash!
Adam Rutherford also talks to zoological archaeologist Angela Perri whose research is aimed at di... more Adam Rutherford also talks to zoological archaeologist Angela Perri whose research is aimed at discovering when our ancestors first started to use dogs as 'hunting' technology. Her work involves joining hunts with dogs in the modern day as well as traditional archaeological field work.
According to the first-ever systematic literature survey of dog burials, this practice may have r... more According to the first-ever systematic literature survey of dog burials, this practice may have roots deep in prehistory. At the meeting, a graduate student suggested that the practice might be correlated with the use of dogs as hunting partners when the world warmed in the post–Ice Age Holocene period about 10,000 years ago.
As co-director of the 1974-1975 Inland Waterway Survey and Excavation Project in the northern par... more As co-director of the 1974-1975 Inland Waterway Survey and Excavation Project in the northern part of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, William Lovis and colleagues acquired considerable archaeological data pertaining to landscape history and resource potential for the area. Additional archaeological investigations have provided complementary information on human-environment interactions in northern Michigan. Although the inland shore fishery was of critical importance for local populations, large terrestrial mammals also provided significant sources of meat, as well as hides. In addition to the 1960s excavations at the Juntunen site, recent discoveries of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) remains have been made at three other Late Woodland sites in northern Michigan. By illustrating some key osteological distinctions between white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and caribou, we call attention to the importance of accurate identifications of fragmentary cervid remains and their implications for a better understanding of human adaptations and subsistence for the region.
In this poster we present an overview of our most recent funded research, which involves an inten... more In this poster we present an overview of our most recent funded research, which involves an intensive program of geometric morphometric and genetic analyses of early wolf and dog populations across the Old World. Research into early animal domestication has now broadly established the geographic and temporal origins of the major livestock species. However, dogs remain an enigma, not only because they were the first domestic animal - the only domesticate whose appearance precedes the emergence of settled agriculture - but also because decades of archaeological and genetic research have still failed to resolve where and how many times dogs were domesticated. By combining ancient DNA (aDNA) and geometric morphometric (GM) techniques applied to archaeological canid remains we will establish a baseline of temporal and geographic variation, which will allow us to address unanswered and fundamental questions about early dog domestication. These methodologies have already proven highly successful in studies carried out to answer identical
questions about pig domestication across the Old World. Using
this model, we have been able to reconstruct the domestication
of wild boar and the subsequent movement of domestic pigs and people in both Europe, East Asia and Oceania; insights not visible through an analysis of modern populations alone. The primary aim of this proposal is, therefore, to directly address where, when, and how many times dogs were domesticated across the Old World. In order to do so, we will characterise and track fine-scale genetic and morphometric variation in wolves and dogs through space and time
"Archaeological paleoparasitology identifies parasitic remains (primarily eggs) excavated from ar... more "Archaeological paleoparasitology identifies parasitic remains (primarily eggs) excavated from archaeological contexts. Beyond their traditional use as indicators of human health, parasites can act as proxies to determine dietary shifts, migration and regional variation, seasonality, climatic and environmental changes. In this sense, they mirror the micro and macroevolution of their human and animal hosts, providing important insights to archaeological questions. My research focuses on recovery and methodology for analyzing parasites from prehistoric hunter-gatherer sites, which have gone largely unexplored."
Tuesday 06 Nov 2012 - Angela Perri - Dog the Hunter: Climate change, Hunting Adaptations and Dog ... more Tuesday 06 Nov 2012 - Angela Perri - Dog the Hunter: Climate change, Hunting Adaptations and Dog Burials in Prehistory.
In November our speaker was Angela Perri, her subject; ‘Dog the Hunter: Climate change, Hunting Adaptations and Dog Burials in Prehistory’. (Angela opted for a narrative rather than a formal lecture, this format was most successful). Around 9000BP there was a rapid transformation from arboreal forest and tundra to temperate climate and deciduous forest. The dilemma facing the peoples of the time was probably ‘do we move north and deal with what we know or stay where we are and adapt to the new temperate environment?’ It has been determined that this change in environmental conditions took place over as little as one or two generations.
Imagine yourself in a cave, your environment changing rapidly. How do you catch the new animals arriving – boar, deer etc that roam the deciduous forest and can see and smell you coming? You tame dogs to see, smell and chase for you? This was the beginning of the era of ‘one man and his dog’! Prior to 9000BP there is no evidence of man having associations with dogs. As both hunter and dog adapted to this new world, they became inextricably linked as ‘friends of necessity’.
These societies of hunter gatherers and hunting dogs were found in mid-south USA, S. Sweden, Netherlands and Denmark and in E. Honshu island Japan, where climatic change and its consequences had occurred. A burial site was discovered at Skateholm in Sweden dated 7.000BP where dogs were interred in the same manner as humans, reinforcing the view of the importance of the dog to that community. Dogs which had become necessary for survival were respected and treated with dignity even in death. It is interesting to have found good evidence of sick dogs being cared for and brought back to good health. The dog became an integral part of man’s life and but in the early Neolithic excavations have revealed many examples of dog remains in trash middens along with other debris. These had not been treated with dignity, evidence of slaughtering and dismemberment was present. In many instances dogs were not butchered but buried with full articulation and specific body positioning and placement in defined burial pits. The style of burial was similar to that of the hunter gatherers and the graves were close together. At Hercanopolis a pit was found with dogs and humans buried together. The dogs had had their throats cut, were skinned and laid at the ‘owners’ feet. At Botai Kazak dogs were buried in pits located on the west side of settlements. Native Americans buried their dogs beneath their dwellings. Did this proximity of dog graves signify some afterlife reference; perhaps the dogs were regarded as guides to the underworld/afterlife or perhaps there was a belief in some transfer of power from the dog?
In the new temperate world new food sources were developed, in N. America it was shellfish and white tailed deer. In N. Europe it was boar, red deer and roe deer. In Japan in the Jomon period the dogs were well cared for and decently buried. But the use of dogs was restricted to only the east of the island because the game was only found there due to the mountainous terrain and associated weather conditions.
As soon as the shift to agriculture arrived the dependency on hunting dogs ceased and this was the end of hunter gathering in the temperate regions. Dog burials ceased at the same time. It is interesting to note that modern hunter gatherers such as aboriginal peoples, Filipinos and some African tribes still use hunting dogs today. But think of all the Labradors, Spaniels and waterdogs who are still working for us!!
Shotgun metagenomics applied to archaeological feces (paleofeces) can bring new insights into the... more Shotgun metagenomics applied to archaeological feces (paleofeces) can bring new insights into the composition and functions of human and animal gut microbiota from the past. However, paleofeces often undergo physical distortions in archaeological sediments, making their source species difficult to identify on the basis of fecal morphology or microscopic features alone. Here we present a reproducible and scalable pipeline using both host and microbial DNA to infer the host source of fecal material. We apply this pipeline to newly sequenced archaeological specimens and show that we are able to distinguish morphologically similar human and canine paleofeces, as well as non-fecal sediments, from a range of archaeological contexts.
Ancient parasite studies depend on the recovery of parasite remains from archaeological material.... more Ancient parasite studies depend on the recovery of parasite remains from archaeological material. Collection strategies, sample processing and the use of parasitological techniques are essential to perform the analyses without loss of microremains and also to interpret the data obtained by correlating with the archaeological information. Together with the methods of analyses, the identification and differentiation between these microremains and others commonly observed in the processed samples, such as pollen grains, plant spores, fungi spores and others, are essential so that no misdiagnosis occur, resulting in misinterpretation of the health situation of an ancient population. All ancient parasite studies require taphonomy evaluation and discussion, based on the factors identified in each archaeological site. Paleoparasitology does not only require the identification of parasite remains in samples, but it involves a set of strategies, meticulous training and application of multiple concepts in order to clarify the infection/disease process in ancient populations. In this chapter the importance of paleoparasitology is discussed, strategies and recommendations on sample collection, sample processing, use of parasitological techniques and researcher training are pointed.
This chapter explores the role of hunting dogs in forager groups and their role as the advent of ... more This chapter explores the role of hunting dogs in forager groups and their role as the advent of animal biotechnology in the prehistory. It outlines the ways in which dogs can be used as hunting biotechnology, how dogs can be incorporated into existing subsistence models, and how we can identify hunting dogs in the archaeological record. The analysis of cross-cultural utilization of dogs as a hunting tool in the ethnographic and ethnohistoric record is used to suggest insights into the ways dogs may have been utilized as a hunting adaptation by people in the past. Similarly, cost-benefit analyses employed for non-living tools, such as lithics, are employed to contextualize dogs as a quantifiable technology within optimal foraging models.
Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are one of the few large terrestrial carnivores that maintained a wide ... more Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are one of the few large terrestrial carnivores that maintained a wide geographic distribution across the Northern Hemisphere throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Recent genetic studies have suggested that, despite this continuous presence, major demographic changes occurred in wolf populations between the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, and that extant wolves trace their ancestry to a single late Pleistocene population. Both the geographic origin of this ancestral population and how it became widespread remain a mystery. Here we analyzed a large dataset of novel modern and ancient mitochondrial wolf genomes, spanning the last 50,000 years, using a spatially and temporally explicit modeling framework to show that contemporary wolf populations across the globe trace their ancestry to an expansion from Beringia at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum - a process most likely driven by the significant ecological changes that occurred across the Northern Hemisphere during this period. This study provides direct ancient genetic evidence that long-range migration has played an important role in the population history of a large carnivore and provides an insight into how wolves survived the wave of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last glaciation. Moreover, because late Pleistocene grey wolves were the likely source from which all modern dogs trace their origins, the demographic history described in this study has fundamental implications for understanding the geographical origin of the dog.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2021
Dogs have been essential to life in the Siberian Arctic for over
9,500 y, and this tight link bet... more Dogs have been essential to life in the Siberian Arctic for over 9,500 y, and this tight link between people and dogs continues in Siberian communities. Although Arctic Siberian groups such as the Nenets received limited gene flow from neighboring groups, archaeological evidence suggests that metallurgy and new subsistence strategies emerged in Northwest Siberia around 2,000 y ago. It is unclear if the Siberian Arctic dog population was as continuous as the people of the region or if instead admixture occurred, possibly in relation to the influx of material culture from other parts of Eurasia. To address this question, we sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 20 ancient and historical Siberian and Eurasian Steppe dogs. Our analyses indicate that while Siberian dogs were genetically homogenous between 9,500 to 7,000 y ago, later introduction of dogs from the Eurasian Steppe and Europe led to substantial admixture. This is clearly the case in the Iamal-Nenets region (Northwestern Siberia) where dogs from the Iron Age period (∼2,000 y ago) possess substantially less ancestry related to European and Steppe dogs than dogs from the medieval period (∼1,000 y ago). Combined with findings of nonlocal materials recovered from these archaeological sites, including glass beads and metal items, these results indicate that Northwest Siberian communities were connected to a larger trade network through which they acquired genetically distinctive dogs from other regions. These exchanges were part of a series of major societal changes, including the rise of large-scale reindeer pastoralism ∼800 y ago.
Domestic dogs have been central to life in the North American Arctic for millennia. The ancestors... more Domestic dogs have been central to life in the North American Arctic for millennia. The ancestors of the Inuit were the first to introduce the widespread usage of dog sledge transportation technology to the Americas, but whether the Inuit adopted local Palaeo-Inuit dogs or introduced a new dog population to the region remains unknown. To test these hypotheses, we generated mitochondrial DNA and geometric morphometric data of skull and dental elements from a total of 922 North American Arctic dogs and wolves spanning over 4500 years. Our analyses revealed that dogs from Inuit sites dating from 2000 BP possess morphological and genetic signatures that distinguish them from earlier Palaeo-Inuit dogs, and identified a novel mitochondrial clade in eastern Siberia and Alaska. The genetic legacy of these Inuit dogs survives today in modern Arctic sledge dogs despite phenotypic differences between archaeological and modern Arctic dogs. Together, our data reveal that Inuit dogs derive from a secondary pre-contact migration of dogs distinct from Palaeo-Inuit dogs, and probably aided the Inuit expansion across the North American Arctic beginning around 1000 BP.
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Journal Papers by Angela Perri
both people and dogs. Over the last 10,000 y, the genetic signatures of ancient dog remains have been
linked with known human dispersals in regions such as the Arctic and the remote Pacific. It is suspected,
however, that this relationship has a much deeper antiquity, and that the tandem movement of people and
dogs may have begun soon after the domestication of the dog from a gray wolf ancestor in the late
Pleistocene. Here, by comparing population genetic results of humans and dogs from Siberia, Beringia,
and North America, we show that there is a close correlation in the movement and divergences of their
respective lineages. This evidence places constraints on when and where dog domestication took place.
Most significantly, it suggests that dogs were domesticated in Siberia by ∼23,000 y ago, possibly while
both people and wolves were isolated during the harsh climate of the Last Glacial Maximum. Dogs then
accompanied the first people into the Americas and traveled with them as humans rapidly dispersed into
the continent beginning ∼15,000 y ago.
both people and dogs. Over the last 10,000 y, the genetic signatures of ancient dog remains have been
linked with known human dispersals in regions such as the Arctic and the remote Pacific. It is suspected,
however, that this relationship has a much deeper antiquity, and that the tandem movement of people and
dogs may have begun soon after the domestication of the dog from a gray wolf ancestor in the late
Pleistocene. Here, by comparing population genetic results of humans and dogs from Siberia, Beringia,
and North America, we show that there is a close correlation in the movement and divergences of their
respective lineages. This evidence places constraints on when and where dog domestication took place.
Most significantly, it suggests that dogs were domesticated in Siberia by ∼23,000 y ago, possibly while
both people and wolves were isolated during the harsh climate of the Last Glacial Maximum. Dogs then
accompanied the first people into the Americas and traveled with them as humans rapidly dispersed into
the continent beginning ∼15,000 y ago.
of 34 artifacts made from the cut-and-drilled
mandibles and maxillae of coyotes, wolves, cougars,
and bears recovered from Illinois Hopewellian
mounds over the past century provide new
perspectives on the variety of forms, mortuary
associations, species-specific uses, and symbolic
significance of these artifacts. Fragments
of eight modified canid and felid “predator jaw”
artifacts, including those from five canids (three
probable coyotes and two wolves), a cougar,
and a bobcat, are also documented from four
west-central Illinois Middle Woodland habitation
sites. Correcting the distressingly common
species misidentifications of these artifacts in
the archaeological literature has also led to new
interpretations of the modification and use of 14
black bear maxillae artifacts, many of which are
identified here for the first time, found in Illinois
Hopewellian mortuary contexts.
The Where the Wild Things Are conference, which was held at Durham University on 24-25 March 2012, attracted some 128 delegates from some eighteen countries and allowed a wide range of researchers within the fields of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeology to present over fifty papers that demonstrated the breadth of new and innovative advances in the analysis and understanding of these periods. The mixture of contributors from a diverse range of backgrounds allowed for a greater degree of interdisciplinary discourse that is not often seen at similar conferences, where the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic are generally split apart.
The papers that have been proposed for this volume bring the ideas and interpretations set forth at the Wild Things conference to the wider archaeological audience. Collecting contributions from archaeologists conducting research within the British Isles, France, Portugal, Denmark, Russia, the Levant and Europe as a whole, this volume aims to present a cross-section of the exciting range of research currently being conducted to improve our understanding of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. By combining papers that discuss these two periods together, it is hoped that further dialogue between practitioners of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic research can be encouraged. "
a hunting relationship, has long been proposed, yet has rarely been evaluated. This thesis
investigates parallels in environment, culture, adaptation and dog mortuary phenomenon
among three complex hunter-gatherer groups in the early Holocene. Although dog
domestication appears to have occurred in the late Upper Palaeolithic, the first instances of
intentional, individual dog burials are not seen until after the Pleistocene-Holocene
Transition. These burials appear nearly simultaneously among culturally and geographically
unrelated early Holocene complex hunter-gatherers in three distinct locations: the midsouth
United States, northern Europe and eastern Japan; coinciding with the onset of significant
postglacial warming that triggered dramatic environmental change throughout the northern
temperate zone; specifically the establishment of temperate deciduous forests. Along with
this new environment came new ungulate prey species, and with the new prey species
important hunting adaptations by humans. Ethnozooarchaeological fieldwork conducted
with modern hunters in the United States and Japan, along with additional ethnographic
material confirms the use of hunting dogs in temperate deciduous forests as a preferred
method which yields improved results, in contrast to boreal forests or open tundra, where
dogs can be a detriment. In densely forested environments, prey species often rely on
concealment, rather than flight, to escape predators and human hunters. Dogs give vital
assistance to hunters in these conditions, performing superhuman tasks such as locating
concealed prey, tracking wounded animals, and bringing them to bay. This thesis presents a
previously unidentified link between the first worldwide occurrences of individual,
intentional dog burials and changes in hunting environments and prey species brought about
by early Holocene climate change.
They depict the animals hunting with humans — and some of them even appear to be on a leash!
questions about pig domestication across the Old World. Using
this model, we have been able to reconstruct the domestication
of wild boar and the subsequent movement of domestic pigs and people in both Europe, East Asia and Oceania; insights not visible through an analysis of modern populations alone. The primary aim of this proposal is, therefore, to directly address where, when, and how many times dogs were domesticated across the Old World. In order to do so, we will characterise and track fine-scale genetic and morphometric variation in wolves and dogs through space and time
In November our speaker was Angela Perri, her subject; ‘Dog the Hunter: Climate change, Hunting Adaptations and Dog Burials in Prehistory’. (Angela opted for a narrative rather than a formal lecture, this format was most successful). Around 9000BP there was a rapid transformation from arboreal forest and tundra to temperate climate and deciduous forest. The dilemma facing the peoples of the time was probably ‘do we move north and deal with what we know or stay where we are and adapt to the new temperate environment?’ It has been determined that this change in environmental conditions took place over as little as one or two generations.
Imagine yourself in a cave, your environment changing rapidly. How do you catch the new animals arriving – boar, deer etc that roam the deciduous forest and can see and smell you coming? You tame dogs to see, smell and chase for you? This was the beginning of the era of ‘one man and his dog’! Prior to 9000BP there is no evidence of man having associations with dogs. As both hunter and dog adapted to this new world, they became inextricably linked as ‘friends of necessity’.
These societies of hunter gatherers and hunting dogs were found in mid-south USA, S. Sweden, Netherlands and Denmark and in E. Honshu island Japan, where climatic change and its consequences had occurred. A burial site was discovered at Skateholm in Sweden dated 7.000BP where dogs were interred in the same manner as humans, reinforcing the view of the importance of the dog to that community. Dogs which had become necessary for survival were respected and treated with dignity even in death. It is interesting to have found good evidence of sick dogs being cared for and brought back to good health. The dog became an integral part of man’s life and but in the early Neolithic excavations have revealed many examples of dog remains in trash middens along with other debris. These had not been treated with dignity, evidence of slaughtering and dismemberment was present. In many instances dogs were not butchered but buried with full articulation and specific body positioning and placement in defined burial pits. The style of burial was similar to that of the hunter gatherers and the graves were close together. At Hercanopolis a pit was found with dogs and humans buried together. The dogs had had their throats cut, were skinned and laid at the ‘owners’ feet. At Botai Kazak dogs were buried in pits located on the west side of settlements. Native Americans buried their dogs beneath their dwellings. Did this proximity of dog graves signify some afterlife reference; perhaps the dogs were regarded as guides to the underworld/afterlife or perhaps there was a belief in some transfer of power from the dog?
In the new temperate world new food sources were developed, in N. America it was shellfish and white tailed deer. In N. Europe it was boar, red deer and roe deer. In Japan in the Jomon period the dogs were well cared for and decently buried. But the use of dogs was restricted to only the east of the island because the game was only found there due to the mountainous terrain and associated weather conditions.
As soon as the shift to agriculture arrived the dependency on hunting dogs ceased and this was the end of hunter gathering in the temperate regions. Dog burials ceased at the same time. It is interesting to note that modern hunter gatherers such as aboriginal peoples, Filipinos and some African tribes still use hunting dogs today. But think of all the Labradors, Spaniels and waterdogs who are still working for us!!
9,500 y, and this tight link between people and dogs continues in
Siberian communities. Although Arctic Siberian groups such as the
Nenets received limited gene flow from neighboring groups,
archaeological evidence suggests that metallurgy and new subsistence
strategies emerged in Northwest Siberia around 2,000 y ago. It is
unclear if the Siberian Arctic dog population was as continuous as the
people of the region or if instead admixture occurred, possibly in
relation to the influx of material culture from other parts of Eurasia. To
address this question, we sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 20
ancient and historical Siberian and Eurasian Steppe dogs. Our analyses
indicate that while Siberian dogs were genetically homogenous
between 9,500 to 7,000 y ago, later introduction of dogs from the
Eurasian Steppe and Europe led to substantial admixture. This is clearly
the case in the Iamal-Nenets region (Northwestern Siberia) where dogs
from the Iron Age period (∼2,000 y ago) possess substantially less ancestry
related to European and Steppe dogs than dogs from the medieval
period (∼1,000 y ago). Combined with findings of nonlocal
materials recovered from these archaeological sites, including glass
beads and metal items, these results indicate that Northwest Siberian
communities were connected to a larger trade network through which
they acquired genetically distinctive dogs from other regions. These
exchanges were part of a series of major societal changes, including
the rise of large-scale reindeer pastoralism ∼800 y ago.