The Ritual Lives of Southwest Dogs

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Dogs, as the first domesticated species, have held a wide range of roles in human societies including hunting assistants, guardians, companions, and food sources. In this poster we will explore their ceremonial roles through a comparative analysis of the life histories of ritually deposited dogs. Specifically, we will compare Southwest dog burials to a late Pithouse Period (A.D. 550-1000) dog internment from Kipp Ruin, a multi-component Mogollon site on the Mimbres river of southwest New Mexico. These dog remains exhibit traces of human-caused physical trauma including skinning, bludgeoning, and dismemberment followed by ceremonial disposal. We will also contextualize the Kipp Ruin dog through morphological, chemical, and genetic testing to assess potential evidence of breed, coat type, fur color, diet, and possible migration of dogs with people across the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25373

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