Our Connection With Dogs Began 12,000 Years Ago, Which Is Much Earlier Than Previously Believed
You’ve most definitely heard the saying, “dog is man’s best friend,” but when exactly did the bond between canines and humans actually begin?
New research has revealed that our relationship with dogs may have started much earlier than previously believed—as early as 12,000 years ago in the Americas.
Back then, recorded history did not yet exist in the Americas. In 2018, archaeological remains were uncovered at Swan Point, a site near Fairbanks, Alaska. The discovery pushes back the timeline of canine companionship by about 2,000 years.
“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 François Lanoë, a co-author of the study and an anthropologist from the University of Arizona.
“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.”
Lanoë and his colleagues found the lower leg bone, also known as the tibia, of an adult canine at the Swan Point archaeological site, located about 70 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. Radiocarbon dating showed that the canine lived around 12,000 years ago, toward the end of the ice age.
Then, during a separate excavation conducted in 2023 at a nearby site called Hollembaek Hill, the team unearthed an 8,100-year-old canine jawbone that exhibited evidence of potential domestication by humans. Chemical analyses were performed on the tibia and jawbone.
The results showed large traces of salmon proteins, indicating that the canine ate fish on a regular basis. This was unusual for the canines in the area at that time.
Typically, they hunted only land animals. So, the most likely explanation for salmon in the canine’s diet is that they depended on humans to feed them.
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The discovery at Swan Point helped establish the earliest known close relationships between canines and humans in the Americas. However, it may not necessarily have been the earliest domesticated dog in the region.
The canines from Swan Point and Hollembaek Hill were likely dependent on humans, but they may not have been like the dogs we know and love today.
They might be too old to be related to modern dog populations. It is also possible they were tamed wolves instead of fully domesticated dogs.
“Behaviorally, they seem to be like dogs, as they ate salmon provided by people, but genetically, they’re not related to anything we know,” said Lanoë.
Since the 1930s, archaeologists have been working in Alaska’s Tanana Valley area. Before conducting research, they consult with the Healy Lake Village Council, which represents the Mendas Cha’ag people. They authorized the genetic testing of the specimens in the study.
The study was published in the journal Science Advances.
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