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Study shows ancient human, canine relationship

Humans are no strangers to sharing their food with their dogs: Look no further than the average American dining room.

As it turns out, that’s been the case for millennia.

In a study published today in the journal Science Advances, scientists were able to demonstrate that people and the ancestors of today's dogs began forming close relationships as early as 12,000 years ago — about 2,000 years earlier than previously recorded in the Americas.

The study, which used stable isotope analysis to recreate the diet of modern and ancient canines, was led by University of Arizona researcher François Lanoë and co-authored by University of ����ӰƬ Fairbanks scientists.

"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 in a University of Arizona news release. “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."

The findings rely on a comparison between wolves and canine samples from Interior ����ӰƬ archaeological sites.

Scientists first analyzed samples from the bones of modern wolves from the University of ����ӰƬ Museum of the North collections and those of ancient wolves, according to co-author Josh Reuther, a UAF anthropology professor and archaeology curator at the museum.

“François and I came up with the concept of looking at what we know are Interior wolves to see what they were eating,” Reuther said.

The wolves' bones, both modern and ancient, showed very low levels of salmon consumption, he said. That differed from canine bones found at the sites of ancient human camps and homes.

"The remains from the archaeological sites had a much larger concentration of salmon," Reuther said.

That indicates humans were sharing their catch with those canines.

"This is the smoking gun because they (canines) are not really going after salmon in the wild," said study co-author and UAF archaeologist Ben Potter in a University of Arizona news release.

The researchers are confident that results help establish the earliest known close relationships between humans and canines in the Americas. But it's too early to say whether the discovery is the earliest domesticated dog in the Americas.

The study is valuable, Potter said, because "It asks the existential question: What is a dog?"

Genetically, the ancient canines aren’t related to current dogs, Lanoë said. "Behaviorally, they seem to be like dogs, as they ate salmon provided by people."

He noted that they could have been tamed wolves rather than fully domesticated dogs.

The study represents another chapter in a longstanding partnership with tribal communities in ����ӰƬ's Tanana Valley, where archaeologists have worked since the 1930s, Reuther said.

Researchers regularly present their plans to the Healy Lake Village Council, which represents the Mendas Cha'ag people indigenous to the area, before undertaking studies, including this one. The council also authorized the genetic testing of the study's new specimens.

Evelynn Combs, an archaeologist who is a member of the Healy Lake tribe and works for the tribe’s cultural preservation office, said tribe members have long considered their dogs to be mystic companions. Today, nearly every resident in her village, she said, is closely bonded to one dog. Combs spent her childhood exploring her village alongside Rosebud, a Labrador retriever mix.

"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 said in a University of Arizona news release. "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."

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Josh Reuther, 907-474-6945, jreuther@alaska.edu. Ben Potter, 907-474-7567, bapotter@alaska.edu. François Lanoë, 520-621-4312, lanoe@arizona.edu. Kyle Mittan, 520-626-4407, mittank@arizona.edu.

NOTE TO EDITORS: University of Arizona news writer Kyle Mittan contributed to this release. 

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Read about another UAF paper about ancient humans in today's issue of Science Advances: Study reveals mammoth as key food source for ancient Americans

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