A new look at an old dog: Bonn-Oberkassel reconsidered

Abstract

The Bonn-Oberkassel dog remains (Upper Pleistocene and 14223 þ-58 years old) have been reported more than 100 years ago. Recent re-examination revealed the tooth of another older and smaller dog, making this domestic dog burial not only the oldest known, but also the only one with remains of two dogs. This observation brings the total known Magdalenian dogs to nine. Domestication of dogs during the final Palaeolithic has important implications for understanding pre-Holocene hunter-gatherers. Most proposed hunter-gatherer motivations for domesticating dogs have been utilitarian. However, remains of the Bonn-Oberkassel dogs may offer another view. The Bonn-Oberkassel dog was a late juvenile when it was buried at approximately age 27e28 weeks, with two adult humans and grave goods. Oral cavity lesions indicate a gravely ill dog that likely suffered a morbillivirus (canine distemper) infection. A dental line of suggestive enamel hypoplasia appears at the 19-week developmental stage. Two additional enamel hypoplasia lines, on the canine only, document further disease episodes at weeks 21 and 23. Pathological changes also include severe periodontal disease that may have been facilitated by immunodeficiency. Since canine distemper has a three-week disease course with very high mortality, the dog must have been perniciously ill during the three disease bouts and between ages 19 and 23 weeks. Survival without intensive human assistance would have been unlikely. Before and during this period, the dog cannot have held any utilitarian use to humans. We suggest that at least some Late Pleistocene humans regarded dogs not just materialistically, but may have developed emotional and caring bonds for their dogs, as reflected by the survival of this dog, quite possibly through human care.

Origins of equine dentistry

“…However, the earliest textual references describe only nonsurgical medicinal treatments and make few mentions of oral health (11). Recent archaeological discoveries suggest that human care of domestic animals was practiced by hunter-gatherers as far back as the Paleolithic (46), and that pastoralists may have occasionally practiced surgical procedures on domestic animals as early as the Neolithic in Europe (47). The evidence presented here indicates that horse dentistry was developed by nomadic pastoralists living on the steppes of Mongolia and northeast Asia during the Late Bronze Age, concurrent with the local adoption of the metal bit and many centuries before the first mention of dental practices in historical accounts from sedentary Old World civilizations.…”

Are spinal deformities in ancient dogs related to weight bearing? The importance of fluctuating asymmetry

“…This commentary is a call for greater attention to the naturally occurring phenomenon of FA and for a more intense collaboration among archaeologists and veterinarians with relevant morphological and pathological experience. Such cooperation is not new in the human (Mays, ) and animal research (Janssens, Street, et al, ; Janssens, Giemsch, Schmitz, Street, & Van Dongen, ; Lawler, Reetz, Sackman, Evans, & Widga, ; Tourigny et al, ), but it does remain uncommon.…”

Humanity’s Best Friend: A Dog-Centric Approach to Addressing Global Challenges

“…Single dog burials have been excavated at hunter-gatherer sites at least 10,000 years ago in the Americas [10], East Asia [11], the Near East [12] and in Europe [13]. The earliest human-dog co-burials date to 14,200 years ago [14], and there are numerous examples across Eurasia and the Americas reflecting the importance of the human-dog relationship. Iconographic representations of dogs have a similarly deep history.…”