Hey,
Happy Wednesday!
I read an interesting story recently about the relationship between humans and dogs.
Academics have discovered that the bond is
even older than we thought — stretching back more than 15,000 years. Two new studies, published in the journal Nature, reveal that our ancient ancestors weren't just living alongside dogs — they were feeding them, and honouring them in death.
Analysis of bones found in Turkey shows that dogs were eating the same fish-rich diet as their human companions. This wasn't accidental scavenging — people were deliberately sharing their food with these animals (the original human-grade dog food?!).
Given the effort and resources required for this, the authors of the study believe dogs must have earned their keep, perhaps as hunting partners, protection, or an early warning system against predators or invaders. Guard dogs, basically.
But the relationship went deeper than a simple food-for-work transaction. In one quite moving discovery, a human skeleton was found in Turkey with three puppies carefully laid over its legs, in a ritual burial.
At Gough's Cave in Somerset, England, a 14,300-year-old dog jawbone showed signs of deliberate ritual treatment, similar to that performed on human remains there.
The story reminded me of an article we wrote a while back on the “humanization” of dogs by pet parents.
