Working Like Dogs: a systematic evaluation of spinal pathologies as indicators of dog transport in the archaeological record

Summary

The use of dogs to pull or carry loads is well documented in the recent and historic past, but the origins of these working relationships are not well understood. Although it is likely that humans utilized dogs for transport activities in the prehistoric period, there is no clear archaeological evidence of dog transport until the historic era. Some archaeologists have suggested that pulling or carrying loads leaves unique signatures of stress on the skeletons of dogs. The use of skeletal indicators for identifying archaeological dogs is problematic because none of the indicators proposed have been systematically evaluated in known transport dogs or in dogs and other canids not engaged in transport activities. Without such data it is unclear if it is appropriate to attribute these skeletal abnormalities to specific occupational etiologies. This paper presents results from a large scale study of modern dogs and wolves that evaluates the occurrence of two spinal pathologies previously used as indicators of dog transport. These pathological lesions are spondylosis deformans and bent or twisted spinous processes. The goal of this study is to test the reliability of these pathologies as indicators of dog’s involvement in transportation, including burden carrying and sled pulling.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Beyond Domestication: Investigations into the Human-Canine Connection

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15392