A 3000 Year Old Dog Burial in Timor-Leste

Bibliographic Data

ID11955905
AuthorsAntonio Uriarte González (0000-0001-9165-957X, Australian National University, corresponding author), Antonio González (0000-0002-5900-3965), Geoffrey Clark (0000-0002-9055-655X, Australian National University), Sue O''Connor (0000-0001-9381-078X, Australian National University), Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith (0000-0002-3500-8307, University of Otago), Lisa Matisoo-Smith
Year2013
Volume76
Issue1
Pages13-20
Publication date2013-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0312-2417 • E-ISSN: 2470-0363
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03122417.2013.11681961
OpenAlexW2234830976
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited24

The domestic dog (Canis familiaris) is considered to be the oldest domesticated animal in the world. It arrived in Island Southeast Asia and Australia-New Guinea relatively late in the Holocene, though the timing and means of its dispersal remain unclear. We report a dog burial from Timor-Leste dated to ~3000 cal. BP. Morphometric analysis demonstrates strong affinities between this individual and contemporary domestic dog groups, and particularly with the ‘village dog’ type, indicating it was indeed domesticated, rather than feral-wild. Isotope values which indicate a diet dominated by terrestrial plant foods rather than hunted foods suggest an association between the Timor dog and agriculturalists. Results suggest that the range expansion of C. familiaris in the Indo-Pacific is associated with the dispersal of farming groups in prehistory

Archaeology · Biological dispersal · Biology · Canis · Domestication · Ethnology · Geography · New guinea · Population · Prehistory · Range (aeronautics · Southeast asia · Timor leste · Demography · History · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Ecology