Laying Down with Dogs: The Role of Canis familiaris in Mongolia and Transbaikal during the Xiongnu Period

Summary

This is an abstract from the "From the Altai to the Arctic: New Results and New Directions in the Archaeology of North and Inner Asia" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Xiongnu period (ca. 250 BC–AD 150) of Mongolia and Transbaikal marks a dramatic change in the frequency and treatment of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in the archaeological record. While this shift in burial and consumptive practices are indirectly acknowledged in the academic literature, the potential causes for and meaning behind the elevated importance of dogs during the Xiongnu period remains unexplored. This study examines human-canine relationships during the Xiongnu period through a review of canine mortuary offerings and presence at settlement sites across Mongolia and Transbaikal. Included in this discussion are new canine skeletal data recovered during recent excavations at Khurts Del, a Xiongnu ring grave cemetery in the Gobi-steppe of southeastern Mongolia. A comparison of these data with dog remains documented in adjacent regions of Eurasia allows for speculation on the potential causes for the shifting nature and prominence of human-canine relationships in the archaeological record at this time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• From the Altai to the Arctic: New Results and New Directions in the Archaeology of North and Inner Asia   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36291.0