New research at indigenous Alaskan archaeological sites dates the origins of human-canid friendship in the Americas to 12,000 years ago, 2,000 years earlier than previous evidence.
Food sharing is a universal custom of friendship, reflected in how modern humans share their homes and food with dogs like our ancestors did millennia ago. Large canids such as dogs, coyotes, and wolves commonly form bonds with human populations in cold, northern environments such as Alaska.
Ancient Human-Canid Friendship
While the deeper origins of human-canine companionship remain to be discovered, the new study published in Science Advances illuminates the early period of that relationship in the Americas.
François Lanoë of the University of Arizona led the study, which consisted of scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. From the Late Pleistocene, large canids prowled the northern latitudes as predators competing with humans for food. Their adaptability saw them through the Pleistocene-Holocene faunal turnover, where less hardy species were eradicated. Over time, their competitive relationship with humans often turned symbiotic.
By the late Holocene, dogs were a significant part of Alaskan life, assisting humans in hunting and transportation. Alaska today preserves a wealth of archeological sites from the terminal Pleistocene to the Holocene, making that northern area perfect for studying ancient human-canid relations.
Searching For Ancient Food Sharing
“People like me who are interested in the peopling of the Americas are very interested in knowing if those first Americans came with dogs,” said Lanoë. “Until you find those animals in archaeological sites, we can speculate about it, but it’s hard to prove one way or another. So, this is a significant contribution.”
To understand how canids and humans interacted, the team compared the bone composition of many canid samples. Modern wolf bones provided by the University of Alaska Museum of the North were compared to ancient canine bones from Alaskan Archaeological sites to understand their diets. UAF anthropology professor Josh Reuther said, “François and I came up with the concept of looking at what we know are Interior wolves to see what they were eating. ”
Some of the canine bones evidenced close relationships with humans. Both modern and ancient wild wolf remains revealed minimal signs salmon intake, while the wolves in human camps appeared to consume fish regularly. “The remains from the archaeological sites had a much larger concentration of salmon,” Reuther said. Humans were sharing their catches with their furry friends.
“This is the smoking gun because they (canines) are not really going after salmon in the wild,” said study co-author and University of Alaska Fairbanks archaeologist Ben Potter.
While the discovery does stretch the timeline of human and canid relationships, it is not yet proof of dog domestication. The reason is that defining exactly what constitutes a dog is tricky. Ancient canines are not genetically related to modern domesticated dogs, yet their behavior seems quite similar: eating food provided by humans and living amongst them. Yet this may only indicate individual tamed wolves instead of a domesticated dog population.
Indigenous Partnership
The study is the latest expression of an alliance between Alaska’s Tanana Valley tribal organizations and archeologists that goes back almost a century. The indigenous Mendas Cha’ag people have a voice in the area’s archeological activity through the Healy Lake Village Council. Archeologists present their plans to the council for approval, as they granted the wolf specimen genetic testing. The Healy Lake Council also employs a tribe member, Evelyn Combs, as an archeologist in their cultural preservation office. With a foot in both worlds, Combs understands the bond between her people and their dogs.
Homo sapiens
“I really like the idea that, in the record, however long ago, it is a repeatable cultural experience that I have this relationship and this level of love with my dog,” Combs exlained. “I know that throughout history, these relationships have always been present.”
“I really love that we can look at the record and see that thousands of years ago, we still had our companions.”
The paper “Late Pleistocene Onset of Mutualistic Human/Canid (Canis spp.) Relationships in Subarctic Alaska” appeared on December 3, 2024 in the Science Advances.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds a BA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted atryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter@mdntwvlf.