Prehistoric Pets: An Examination of the Human-Dog Relationship in the American Southwest

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Dogs have been human companions for at least 15,000 years (Morey 2010), with some of the earliest remains recovered in North America from Danger Cave, Utah (Schwartz 1997). How the relationship has been and is now defined, however, varies culturally and temporally. This research explores the complexity of our relationship with dogs in an intermediate space between ritually significant and working animals, with specific focus to the impact humans may have had on dog health. Using faunal collections from the Museum of Northern Arizona, we evaluated healed cranial fractures and worn dentition from domesticated dogs. Methodologically previous researchers lacked formal systems for documenting these pathologies. When reviewing the literature (Allo 1971; Bartosiewicz 2013; Clark 1997) though, a new method for measuring the overall wear patterns was created. Using data collected and re-examined for this project, we challenge the stereotyped assumption that prehistoric indigenous communities abused their dogs. Innovative data collection methods in zooarchaeology are still possible and have the potential to expand interpretations concerning the diverse interaction’s humans have had with animals.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32965