Early and Mid-Holocene Dogs in Southeastern North America: Examples from Dust Cave

Abstract

The deliberate burial of domestic dogs is an ancient and worldwide phenomenon. Dogs served a variety of purposes in the past, as indicated by the archaeological and ethnohistorical record. Deliberate burial of domestic dogs is a practice at many sites in the southeastern and midwestern United States during the Early to Mid-Holocene. During 12 seasons of excavations at the Dust Cave site in northwestern Alabama, researchers recovered four domestic dog burials. We present the results of an analysis comparing the domestic dog skeletons from Dust Cave with dogs recovered from other southeastern and midwestern sites. Results indicate that the Dust Cave dogs are very similar in size and morphological characteristics to dogs from sites dating to the Early to Mid-Holocene period in North America. We consider the overall significance of dog burials and the role of dogs in human activities here and elsewhere. Dog burials are of fairly common occurrence in archaeological sites dating to the Early and Mid-Holocene in eastern North America. The deliberate burial of dogs suggests that these animals played important roles in the lives of ancient native North Americans. Ethnohistoric literature for several native North American groups, highlighted below, suggests that they used their dogs for various purposes, including hunting, as pack animals, for ritual use, as companions, and for food. We examine several physical characteristics of Early and MidHolocene dogs, using a sample of dog skeletons from the Southeast and lower Midwest, to determine their range of variation. We then look specifically at four dog burials from the Early to Mid-Holocene period at the Dust Cave site, northwestern Alabama. We compare these skeletons with the larger sample to determine if the Dust Cave dogs are similar to other dogs of this time. Finally, we examine the pathologies of the Dust Cave dogs as one means of inferring task-related activities in which these dogs may have been involved as part of their roles in human society. Ethnohistoric Data As noted, ethnohistoric literature suggests that dogs may have participated in various roles, for example, as hunting attendants, ritual sacrifices, friendly companions, or pack animals. Ethnohistorically, dogs are documented as aiding hunting parties among the Micmac, Sioux, Puna, Iroquios, Huron, Mohawk, Eskimo, Shoshone, and many other early contact Native American groups (Schwartz 1997; Snyder 1995; Thwaites 18961901). A search of the Jesuit Relations files revealed several examples of dogs used to hunt deer, bear, and beaver (e.g., Thwaites 1896-1901). In many cultures, dogs also served a ritual role. For example, the Iroquois sacrificed white dogs to usher in the New Year. The Fox sacrificed and ate dogs during the White Buffalo Dance ceremony, sacrificing a dog to each of the four cardinal directions (Schwartz 1997:83-85). Dog sacrifices also took place among the Huron, particularly for help in attaining medicinal objectives (Thwaites 1896-1901). Francois Joseph le Mercier noted in 1637 that a Huron woman ate dog meat and afterward recovered from her illness (Thwaites 1896-1901:13:311). Dogs also played a role as companions to humans (Schwartz 1997; Thwaites 1896-1901), providing an alarm in the case of intruders and keeping the households clean of bone debris. Ethnohistorically, documents suggest that particularly favored dogs were buried with human individuals. For example, in a case dating to 1636, Father Paul le Jeune noted a father's desire to bury two favorite dogs with his dead daughter (Thwaites 1896-1901:8:267). In another example among the Huron, a young man laments the death of his dog during a bear hunt, praised his courage in pursuing the Bear, and stated that there was no dream that could have influenced me to make a feast of him (Thwaites 1896-1901:14:33). Finally, dogs hauled personal and domestic items for people in a variety of ways. Among the Assiniboin, for example, dogs wore packs that consisted of two skin pouches cinched around their middle (Figure 1). …