The world’s oldest dog remains have recently been identified at an ancient hunter-gatherer site in a cave at Pinarbasi, which is an area in Turkey near the Black Sea.
Archaeologist Douglas Baird from the University of Liverpool dated the dog’s bones to around 15,800 years ago, which is 500 years earlier than previous estimates about when wolves were domesticated.
The study provides new insights into how dogs spread throughout Europe.
Despite decades of study, dog domestication remains one of the greatest mysteries in archaeology because we know dogs descended from wolves but when and how this happened is unclear.
Until now the oldest genetically confirmed dog was an 11,000-year-old canine found at a dig site in north west Russia.
The Pinarbasi dog remains are 4,800 years older.
Some queried dog remains have previously turned out to be wolves after genetic testing was completed, but the Pinarbasi pup testing has confirmed it is hundred percent domesticated dog.
Suspected dog remains in Goughs cave in southern England and the Kesslerloch cave in north Switzerland are dated to around the time of 14,300; one thousand five hundred years later than the Pinarbasi remains.
Revealing that dogs were domesticated and used widespread across Europe by this time.
The Genomes of Turkish, English and Swiss dogs were strikingly similar to one another despite vast geographical distances separating the sites and the very different human cultures.
Dogs are considered the very first domesticated animal, forming a partnership with hunter gatherers during the first ice age, long before the rise of agriculture.
Horses were domesticated about 10,000 years later, after the domestication of dogs.
The capability of dogs was invaluable for early humans, with their enhanced senses of smell and hearing and their fast tracking and stamina.
Dogs allowed the humans to conserve energy and focus on other activities, while being great helpers and companions.
The relationship between dogs and early humans also influenced the adaption to different environments, such as colder climates.
The functions and abilities of dogs to serve humans has never stopped growing, they are an essential part of the military, police and customs which no machine can match.
We should be able to protect these powerful animals from misuse, abuse and just plain ignorance, but that takes research, planning, time and money.
