Hot dogs: Comestible Canids in Preclassic Maya Culture at Cuello, Belize

The contribution of animal protein to the ancient Maya diet, and its means of procurement, can be assessed more accurately on the basis of systematic faunal recovery from recent excavations. We evaluate the presence of dog (Canis familiaris) remains in Preclassic (1200 BC-AD 250) deposits from the Maya site of Cuello, Belize, and conclude that the animals were raised for food and killed at the end of their first year of life. The frequency and distribution of canid bones suggest a significant but not dominant contribution to the meat supply throughout the Preclassic period.     

Malocclusion and methodology: The problem and relevance of recording dental malalignment in archaeology

The study of incorrectly positioned teeth has a long history, especially in relation to human groups and domestic dogs. Dental and orthodontic specialists have been particularly concerned to establish ways of recording and comparing such anomalies. However, Colyer and others have established that anomalous dental positioning occurs in a wide variety of species, and might at times even have had adaptive advantage. In the case of dogs, some modern varieties clearly have severe malocclusion problems, while others are little affected. Because it has been suggested that early domesticated dogs already display some degree of dental crowding or malpositioning, it seems important to consider the methodology for recording such anomalies. It is suggested that a quick and easy method of recording and comparing tooth positioning is by angular measurements (preferably taken on standard photographs of occlusal views). In the British archaeological dog samples selected, it was found that tooth malpositioning (and thus malocclusion of upper and lower dentitions) was only slight, compared to the overall occurrence of such anomalies in modern dogs. It is suggested that this kind of simple procedure may be of value in the investigation of secular trends in the frequency of malpositioning and malocclusion of dogs, if not other species, through time.     

Canids as persons: Early Neolithic dog and wolf burials, Cis-Baikal, Siberia

Interpretations of dog burials made by ancient foraging groups have tended to be based upon our own relationships with such animals and modern western cosmological and ontological concepts. Osteological studies of early dogs often focus only on issues of taxonomy, and as a result very little is known about these animals’ life histories. Eastern Siberia has produced many Holocene dog burials, but these are typically not well described and the explanatory frameworks provided for them are very underdeveloped. Here we examine in detail two Cis-Baikal canid burials, one of a wolf and the other a dog, both in large Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer cemeteries. We link the mortuary treatment of these animals to other cultural practices, particularly the treatment of the human dead, and broader patterns in Northern human-animal relationships. This interpretive model is combined with detailed osteobiographies for the canids and contextual information for these and other dogs and wolves from Middle Holocene Cis-Baikal. It is argued that canids here were understood and treated in a variety of ways. We suggest that some animals with unique histories were known as distinct persons with ‘souls’ and because of this at death required mortuary rites similar to those of their human counterparts.     

(Just) a walk with the dog? Animal geographies and negotiating walking spaces

In this paper, we present findings from interviews conducted with people who walk with dogs. Drawing on new walking studies and animal geographies as our theoretical framework, we adopt the view that walking is more than just walking; it is often a highly sensual and complex activity. We argue that walking with dogs represents a potentially important cultural space for making sense of human–animal relations. We show how the personalities of both dog and walker can shape not only walking practices, but also the human–animal bond. We contend that the walk is a significant arena where relations of power between animal and human are consciously mediated. We also provide evidence which indicates the contested nature of walking practices and spaces. We conclude that the dog walk is a useful practice through which to examine human–animal relations and thus to contribute to the field of animal geographies.     

The role of canids in ritual and domestic contexts: new ancient DNA insights from complex hunter–gatherer sites in prehistoric Central California

This study explores the interrelationship between the genus Canis and hunter–gatherers through a case study of prehistoric Native Americans in the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento Delta area. A distinctive aspect of the region's prehistoric record is the interment of canids, variously classified as coyotes, dogs, and wolves. Since these species are difficult to distinguish based solely on morphology, ancient DNA analysis was employed to distinguish species. The DNA study results, the first on canids from archaeological sites in California, are entirely represented by domesticated dogs (including both interments and disarticulated samples from midden deposits). These results, buttressed by stable isotope analyses, provide new insight into the complex interrelationship between humans and canids in both ritual and prosaic contexts, and reveal a more prominent role for dogs than previously envisioned.