Ancient Dog Tooth Discovery Indicates Canines Were Pets Even 13,000 Years Ago
Image ID 63701259 © via Brandon Smith | Dreamstime.com
While dogs have been man’s best friend for centuries, it appears that our trusty companions could’ve been domesticated far longer ago than once thought.
Recently, archaeologists in Canada chanced upon a dog’s tooth (which you can view here) dating more than 13,100 years ago, and it could be the oldest evidence of pet canines ever found.
The tooth was scattered among other prehistoric artifacts in the limestone caves of Huxley and Moresby Islands, which are part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago near British Colombia. According to Artnet News, the location had rarely been excavated till Tim Heaton, a paleontologist from the University of South Dakota, came across a stone spearpoint nearly two decades ago.
Since then, researchers have continued traversing the area, discovering artifacts that have now “developed into an incredible story that tells a huge amount about the history of the environment and people,” Daryl Fedje, an archaeologist at the Hakai Institute in British Colombia, told Hakai Magazine.
The team’s findings, including that of the dog tooth, have recently been published in the Quaternary Science Reviews journal. It stated that the special find was actually the oldest artifact scientists have found in the caves. Other items recovered from the area include stone tools dating to about 11,000 years ago, which ancient peoples may have used to hunt and kill prey for food.
Recent theories suggest archaeologists believe prehistoric humans had used two caves in the area—named K1 and Gaadu Din 1—as places to hide out from the harsh winter up to 13,400 years ago. Gaadu Din 2, which features a hearth, could possibly have been a makeshift camp for hunters between 12,500 and 10,700 years ago.
The discovery of the dog’s tooth among the other tools proves that prehistoric humans had faithful companions by their side even back then, and that the special relationship between man and dog could potentially have much deeper roots, tracing all the way back to our prehistoric ancestors.
[via Artnet News, cover image via Brandon Smith | Dreamstime.com]
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