Social Zooarchaeology by Russell Nerissa

Author:Russell, Nerissa [Russell, Nerissa]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781139184342
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012-04-23T16:00:00+00:00

Companion

Most modern western people would probably consider the primary role of dogs to be as pets or companion animals (Serpell 1986, 1995). There are good indications that dogs have often been regarded as companions in the past as well. Some would argue that this goes back to the very beginning of the human–dog relationship, that it was their position as pets that led to dog domestication (see Chapter 6, The Pet Theory). As we have seen (the earlier section, Pets), the definition of pet, and therefore the recognition of pets in the past, is not completely straightforward. At many sites, dogs are rarely or never eaten, but this could be a sign of either affection or contempt. Ethnographically, dogs have often been viewed in both these ways. It is not only western societies who keep dogs primarily as pets; this may be true for some Australian Aboriginal groups as well, where dogs act as substitute children (Hamilton 1972).

Dogs are the most frequently buried animal (Morey 2006, 2010). Minimally, dog burials have been reported from the Epipaleolithic and later periods of the Near East (Clutton-Brock 2001; Davis and Valla 1978; Grigson 2006; Onar et al. 2002; Wapnish and Hesse 1993), the Mesolithic and later periods of Europe (Antikas 2006, Arbogast et al. 1989; Barber and Bowsher 2000; Benecke 1994; Bökönyi 1984; Bond and Worley 2006; Chapman 1997; Day 1984; Detry and Cardoso 2010; Facciolo and Tagliacozzo 2006; Horard-Herbin 2000; Jones 1998; Lichter 2001; MacKinnon and Belanger 2006; Petrasch 2004; Prummel 2006; Smith 2006), the Chalcolithic of Central Asia (Olsen 2000), the Bronze Age in China (Fiskesjö 2001), the Jomon in Japan (Shigehara and Hongo 2000), the Neolithic and later in Africa (MacEachern et al. 2001; Paris 2000), the Archaic and later periods in North America (Bartelle et al. 2010; Collins 1991b; Hill 2000; Hogue 2006; Morey and Wiant 1992; Oberholtzer 2002; Szuter 2001; Vellanoweth et al. 2008; Warren 2000; Yohe and Pavesic 2000), and Mayan Mesoamerica (Wing 1984). In some cases the dogs are buried alone; in others they accompany humans. As noted earlier (Pets in the Past), although burial of an intact animal indicates that it was not eaten, dog burials do not necessarily mean the animal was a pet. In some cases, however, it seems likely that the dog was a valued companion.

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