Recent research has uncovered the remains of dogs dating back more than 14,000 years in both Turkey and the UK, shedding new light on the early domestication of dogs. These findings reveal that domesticated dogs were already spread across Europe by hunter-gatherer societies long before the advent of farming.
The oldest known dog remains, found at a hunter-gatherer site in Turkey, date back approximately 15,800 years, pushing back the timeline for dog domestication by about 5,000 years. Genetic studies suggest that these early dogs diverged from wolves during the Paleolithic era and were widely distributed across western Eurasia.
This research highlights the deep bond between humans and dogs, showing that hunter-gatherers not only kept dogs but also cared for them, feeding them and even giving them ritual burials during the last Ice Age. These discoveries provide valuable insights into the origins of the human-dog relationship and the role dogs played in prehistoric societies.
