Domestication of the Dog

A detailed Summary of Domestication of the Dog

Today's dogs serve as a number of different tools. We train dogs to see for the blind, we train them to sniff for drugs, we train them to save people's lives, and we train them to be our faithful companions. There is no doubt that the dog has a wide variety of skills and jobs. We selectively breed the dog to gain the certain attributes we are seeking, and we know which dogs will perform the best at what we want them to do. The question is how long ago, and why did the dog become our aids, tools, and companions? Answering this question means dealing with the four fields of Anthropology: Ethnologically, Archaeologically, Physically, and Linguistically.

The most obvious way to learn about the past of the dog species, is to treat it the same way we treat ancient societies. Archaeologists study where they once were, look at their remains. Where they lived, what they looked like, and how they changed over time. An example of using the Archaeological field of Anthropology would be the excavation of the Roman city, Pompeii, which was destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius in AD 79. When finally excavated, searchers found the remains of a dog lying across a child, apparently trying to protect him. By looking at this individual skele

· Whitehead, Sarah. Dog, The Complete Guide. London: Team Media, Ltd.,1999

· Friend, Tim "Dog domestication dates to early man." USA Today, 10/23/97. [http:// www.usatoday.com/life/science/ancient/lsa023.htm] (2 October 2000)

The last field of Anthropology that has not been discussed is the physical field. By looking at a culmination of the fossils we have, it not only adds to a holistic approach to the problem, but it also gives us a longitudinal study of a very old question. Instead of gathering the information over multiple visits, which would be impossible, we can get the same information we need by looking at the same object, at different points of history. To do this, we look at fossilized remains that we are able to date. By doing this, we can track the changes we notice. For example, it is quite obvious; that the first domesticated dogs were not as diverse as the dogs we have today. There were only a few kinds of dogs. Fossil remains of the early Bronze Age, 6500 years ago; make it possible to identify 5 major groups of early dogs. As the fossils get younger and younger, we notice a growing of the species. Dogs are obviously mixing and creating new breeds. The wide diversity in breeds that we witness today comes from selective breeding as well as natural genetic mutations in the five groups. Physical Anthropology even explores this last point. These natural genetic mutations are causing some dissention in the professional field. A recent study, led by biologist Robert K. Wayne of UCLA, suggests that canines may have been domes

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Approximate Word count = 1050
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science