European Dogs Doubled In Size From 8,000 To 2,000 Years Ago – New Study Shows

Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - There is scientific evidence dogs were domesticated between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago. Dogs are our beloved pets and they have been our companions for a very long time, but how dogs changed in size over the years or what role they played in ancient societies has so far not been thoroughly investigated.

Human contact with digs is very ancient. In the Chauvet Cave in France, there are extraordinary paintings that are between 20,000 and 30,000 thousand years old. Here we find what some considered to be the oldest evidence of human-canine relationship.

Credit: Public Domain

Not so long ago, a research team sequenced ancient DNA from 27 dogs, some of which lived up to nearly 11,000 years ago, across Europe, the Near East, and Siberia.

Scientists discovered that by this point in history, just after the Ice Age and before any other animal had been domesticated, there were already at least five different types of dogs with distinct genetic ancestries.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports scientists explain dog size and physical proportions may provide clues to the role they play within human societies.

"To see how the size—and jobs—of dogs changed over time, Martin Welker, a zooarchaeology curator at the Arizona State Museum, and his colleagues examined the remains of 14 dogs uncovered from ancient human settlements in Croatia. They also incorporated data from another 45 ancient dogs, some from Croatia and some from neighboring countries. The remains dated from about 8000 years ago in the Neolithic (or latter Stone Age) to the Roman period, about 2000 years ago.

Dogs had lived in the region before, but the first Neolithic farmers, who arrived in the area from Anatolia and the Middle East, brought a new breed with them. These new animals averaged about 15 kilograms—roughly the size of a border collie, the scientists found—though this was long before most of today’s breeds evolved," the Science Magazine reports.

"Since their domestication, dogs have adapted to a diverse portfolio of roles within human societies, and changes in dog size, shape, and behavior are often key indicators of these changes. Among pastoral and agropastoral societies dogs are almost ubiquitous as livestock guardians and herding aids," the researchers write in their paper.

"Archaeological data demonstrate that incoming Neolithic farmers brought with them their own morphologically distinct dogs when they spread into Europe, and that these dogs became larger in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Using archaeological data from the eastern Adriatic region we suggest that changes in the morphology and treatment of dog remains by these societies reflect, in part, the significance of dogs in livestock management including guarding herds kept at distances from villages. Bronze and Iron Age increases in body size, in particular, may track the increasing importance of seasonal transhumance," the science team explained in the study.

Data suggest that dog size in Adriatic Croatia, and other parts of Europe from 8,000 to 2,000 years Ago may track selection for large dogs capable of guarding livestock kept at greater distances from human settlements, the researchers added.

A domestic dog jaw bone discovered in a Neolithic village dating to about 7,000 years ago. Credit; Sarah McClure

By the Bronze Age, which started roughly 6000 years ago in this region, the average mass increased to about 17 kilograms, and by Roman times, the weight of the average dog had jumped to 24 kilograms, the team concluded in the study.

Evidence of changes in dogs' weight can also be found in historical documents that elaborate on how ancient Romans gave advice to farmers on herding and guard dogs - "suggest even bigger dogs at the time, reaching at least 32 kilograms, nearly the weight of today’s great Pyrenees dogs.

Great Pyrenees are still used to guard European livestock—and, indeed, the researchers saw an evolution in responsibilities as ancient dogs got bigger," the Science Magazine explains.

A previous study showed that the diversity observed between dogs in different parts of the world today originated when all humans were still hunters and gatherers.

Written by Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com Staff Writer