Dogs in Mesoamerica (Other Keyword)

1-1 (1 Record)

Old Dogs, New Tricks: Tracking Dog Management in the Ancient Maya World (2017)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Petra Cunningham-Smith. Ashley Sharpe. Elizabeth Olson. Erin Thornton. Kitty Emery.

This study examines the management of dogs as a resource and status symbol in ancient Mesoamerican society. One of the few New World domesticated animals, dogs provided communities with a steady source of meat. Artistic and ethnohistorical accounts suggest that dogs may also have been selectively bred to emphasize particular body shapes and hair types, including even absence of hair. These different breeds are described as playing different roles, as participants in specific ceremonies, as...