Archaeologists and anthropologists have discovered evidence that remains of prehistoric, partly domesticated dogs lived as early as 33,000 BCE. The Ice Age peaked 20,000 years ago, but it was not until approximately 6,000 years later at the earliest that the man-dog relationship resumed. All modern dogs can be traced to ancestors that lived at the end of the Ice Age.

The Ice Age

The environmental conditions were not stable; the temperatures dropped to dangerous levels and humans had to fend for themselves to find food and survive. They became nomads and moved often as they sought out warmer living conditions and good hunting. Barely surviving themselves, they did not have the surplus food to feed any pets. As a result, they discouraged the friendship of dogs and domestication halted until their lives improved.

The Dog's Role in Human Society

Dogs and humans have functioned as protectors, hunters, herders, companions sometimes even served as dinner themselves when food was scarce. According to Stanley Coren in his book, The Pawprints of History, dogs have shared our homes and worked with us as they shaped human history. Coren proposed that dogs first came into human culture as sentries and guardians. Realizing the importance of a dog that barked warnings when strangers or dangerous beasts approached, early man offered tidbits of food, shelter and affection to encourage the dogs to stay close. Soon the canines became members of the family and forged a symbiotic partnership of mutual benefit for each other.

The Parasitic Canine

Stephen Budiansky, writing for The Atlantic Monthly online, has a different take on the role of dogs in human culture. He identifies them as social parasites. Although most people celebrate their canine companions by believing that the creatures are altruistic, loyal, trustworthy, affectionate and obedient, Budiansky points out that dogs really have an agenda best described as social parasitism.

The family dog lies around our homes, sleeping most of the day and rousing themselves only for meals or play times. Pointing out that the cost-benefit ratio does not favor humans, he suggests that the dog-human relationship has evolved to favor the canines. Over the millenia our friends have trained us well to take care of their needs and we enjoy their company.

The Prehistoric Burials of Dogs

The 7000-year-old skeletal remains of a dog excavated in Siberia revealed that the people who lived with this dog honored it in death by treating its body as they would a human. This canine rested on its right side with grave goods, a spoon carved from an antler in this case. The prehistoric cemetery also contained five human skeletons buried nearby.

Another burial site in the same area of Siberia contains the remains of a wolf wrapped around a human skull. Possible this arrangement was intended to bind the two together on their journey through the afterlife.

The Archaeologic Record

The archaeological record has classified the remains of ancient dogs from 31,000 years in Belgium, as well as 26,000 in the Czech Republic and 15,000 years in Siberia. Darcy Morey is a zoo-archaeologist from the University of Tennessee. He researches the archaeologic evidence of dog burials. His data reveals that the first dogs in North America traveled with the human migration across the Bering land bridge about 10,000 years ago.

Morey's dig at Danger Cave in Utah produced the ancient bone specimens dating to between 9,000 and 10,000 years old. His evidence shows that the one of the oldest domestications is in Bonn-Oberkassel, Germany which is about 14,000 years old. The dog was buried as part of a human double grave, indicating the importance of the canine in that community.

Dogs on the Menu

An article by Samuel Belknap in the Huffington Post explained how he discovered that in some primitive societies, the dogs were also eaten. He found a canine bone in a sample of human excrement. DNA testing further revealed that this bone sample was approximately 9400 years old.

Scientists theorize that dog domestication and human civilization arose together around the end of the Pleistocene epoch. The earliest evidence for the domestication of the wolf occurred in Europe and Asia 30,000 to 15,000 years ago.