How ancient man tamed a dog. History of dog domestication

21.04.2019

There is literally not a single point in the history of dog domestication that does not cause fierce debate among scientists. A recent study of how dogs literally by their eyes regulate the level of the "love hormone" in the body, and with it - and human behavior, makes us recall the theory that it is still unknown who domesticated whom - we dogs or they us.

Some researchers attribute the domestication of animals to the Paleolithic (Ancient Stone Age), others - to the later Neolithic, when people were already sedentary and engaged in agriculture. In other words, farmers could have dogs to eat, and hunters could have them help in pursuit of prey.

At first glance, in the problem of dog domestication, we see a classic case of scientists satisfying their own curiosity at public expense. Does it really matter how the gray wolf became a pet? Alas, it’s not that simple. The dog is the first domesticated animal, and many experts believe that without it, all other domestic animals (cows, horses, chickens) might not have appeared at all. Therefore, to understand how and when the first domestication took place means to understand how the foundations of the modern lifestyle - fueled by the same domestication that began with dogs - were formed.

Why you can't domesticate a wolf

Since 1907, the leading theory of domestication has been the simplest one: once a person took orphaned wolf cubs, went out, and they became loyal friends to him. For all the romance of this story, it is very difficult to believe in it.

Let's start with the basics: yes, geneticists are confidently breeding a dog from a gray wolf (Canis lupus). Moreover, it is recognized as its subspecies (Canis lupus familiaris). However, representatives of the species Canis lupus are incredibly cautious and sensitive animals, literally hearing the leaves fall in the autumn air. It is very difficult to see the same wolf against will: modern hunters, in order to simply go out to him, use dogs or hunting birds. It goes without saying that our ancestors did not have such helpers before the first domestication. Finding even an adult wolf without them is a very dubious idea. To understand exactly how much, it is enough to recall that until the 21st century, man did not know about the presence of the gray wolf in Africa, and even its famous representatives, mistakenly classified as "Egyptian jackals", were estimated as an endangered species numbering dozens of individuals. Only a genetic analysis of their excrement by 2011 established that these "jackals" are the same subspecies of gray as domestic dogs, and their number today exceeds one hundred thousand individuals. The missing hordes of these animals began to look - and literally in recent years they were found not only in Egypt, but also in a vast area from Senegal and Mali to Ethiopia. It is doubtful that the few primitive hunters were much more successful than modern scientists in detecting wolves, and even more so wolf cubs.

Let's leave the question of how the cubs were found. There is an even more difficult question - how did the ancient man manage to grow them at all? Many of us have seen modern wolves, which people raised from puppyhood. It is widely known that they must be taught to humans from two weeks and in no case later than three, and only when isolated from adult relatives. After that, there is practically no hope that the cub will perceive people as his own. However, up to three weeks, cubs do not eat solid food at all, requiring milk. It is not known where the first dog handlers, who did not have dairy farming, took milk.

And even if they had it, they will not close the issue of raising cubs. Compared to other mammals, wolf milk contains a lot of arginine, without which healthy Canis lupus cannot grow. There is very little arginine in modern substitutes for wolf milk, which is compensated by artificial additives, but where such additives could be bought many thousands of years ago is an open question, to put it mildly.

And the last reason to doubt: a grown wolf cub will retain loyalty only to members of the human family where he grew up. The rest of our species, raised among people (and therefore not afraid of them), the wolf considers as legal prey, especially when it comes to children and the sick. This is how the unsuccessfully domesticated wolf cub from Gisinj killed a dozen children in three months in the 19th century, and that is why a number of modern wolf domestication centers have a sign "with a cold not to enter" on the doors of a number of modern wolf domestication centers. A wolf can attack even a person who is confident in his health - after all, many dogs have such a good instinct that
by the smell of urine, cancer, about which the person himself may not yet be aware.

How to "tame" a person

The whole complex of problems of the "first step" in domestication has led most researchers to believe that it was not a human being. The wolves themselves, who lived close to the Paleolithic hunters, gradually got used to not attacking the hens that lay the golden eggs. Following the wandering human groups and eating up the remains of the animals they killed, they could become specialized companions of primitive people. Such a scheme successfully resolves the issue of feeding the cubs and the aggression of wolves towards the weak: focusing on older relatives, the cubs avoided attacks on primate cubs, perceiving them as a kind of part of the pack.

Not so long ago, the specific mechanisms by which the dogs "tamed" people became clear. Japanese researchers, led by Miho Nagasawa, found that by looking into people's eyes and spending more time with them, dogs significantly increase the level of oxytocin in a person's blood, simultaneously increasing its level in themselves. Oxytocin, sometimes simply called the "love hormone," is commonly used by members of the same species to deepen bonds between individuals. In the case of humans, the mother and child, looking at each other, also simultaneously increase the level of this hormone, and the more time they spend together, the stronger their bond. However, prior to this work, it was not known that representatives of any other species are able to induce an oxytocin response in humans.

Obviously, it is this skill of dogs that makes it easier for them to integrate into human society. This behavior of dogs, looking into the eyes of the owner on their own initiative, is to some extent a manipulation of a person, and, according to the Nagasawa group, is not inherent in wolf cubs raised among humans. By the way, the latter themselves do not experience an increase in oxytocin when a person looks at them. Often they interpret eye-to-eye gaze as wild wolves, for which it is a sign of aggression, in response to which the animal, as a rule, looks away.

When did a person make their first friends?

Let's say wolves domesticated themselves, but when exactly did they decide on this? A group of geneticists led by Peter Savolainen, after examining the DNA of modern dogs, confidently deduces them from the South Chinese wolves that lived no later than 16,400 years ago. In this region, the genetic diversity of dogs is still the widest. According to this scheme, dingoes are considered the oldest domestic dogs, followed by African Basenjis and Arctic Laiko-like dogs.

Proponents of this version, referring to dating, see domestication as one of the stages of the transition from hunting to agriculture and consider the first domestic dogs to be a beef cattle. True, feeding a domesticated wolf, unlike a dog, requires 1-2.5 kilograms of fresh meat per day - that is, even a one-year-old wolf gives less meat than it takes to feed it.

At the same time, a group of archaeologists and geneticists led by Robert Wayne (Robert Wayne) consider the wolf "European." Animal skulls from the Robber's Cave in Altai confidently date back to the 31st millennium BC, and the finds in Goya (Belgium) - to the 34th. The search for kinship not by nuclear, but by mitochondrial DNA transmitted through the maternal line, led Wayne's group to the conclusion that in the genes of modern dogs there are traces of similar creatures that lived more than 30 thousand years ago, whose closest wild relatives are European wolves.

Credit: Image courtesy of Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences

The earlier dating naturally implies another purpose of the dog - tamed by Paleolithic hunters, it was hardly considered by them as a supply of meat. Rather, the ancient people were interested in the extraordinary sense of smell of former wolves or the protection and transportation of many tons of mined mammoth meat on dogs, without draft animals unbearable for small human groups.

Of course, supporters of the point of view of the late (Neolithic) domestication of the dog look for flaws in the conclusions of ideological opponents. And they find - the February publication of the Abby Drake group (Abby Drake), that the find from the Belgian Goye cave is closer to a wolf than to a dog by the structure of the skull. On the basis of which it is argued that domestication took place only in the Neolithic - at the same time as the domestication of other domestic animals.

Unfortunately, Drake's work has passed over in silence a study by Russian scientists, published in 2011, which clearly indicates the existence of a canine skull aged 33-34 thousand years. Moreover, as the lead author of that work, Yaroslav Kuzmin, noted, the skull from the Altai Robber Cave is extremely similar to the remains of a dog from Greenland that lived only a thousand years ago. This means that already 33 thousand years ago, the domestication of canids advanced extremely far - almost to the modern level!

The question of the time of domestication was finally cleared up after the publication in 2013 of the work, the first author of which is the geneticist Anna Druzhkova from the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. An analysis of 413 nucleotides of the Paleolithic Altai dog showed that it is much closer to the dogs and prehistoric canines of the New World than to modern wolves. Accordingly, the 33 thousand-year-old animal from the Robber Cave is the oldest known dog today, which means that the domestication of our smaller brothers took place long before the emergence of agriculture. The same Yaroslav Kuzmin believes that it is not even clear who the owners of the first Altai dog were: “both Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals are suitable in age”. In other words, the first domestication, in principle, may still be subhuman.

Photo: The Upper Galilee Museum of Prehistory

Here dog lovers can breathe a sigh of relief: almost all researchers believe that the domestication of dogs in the Paleolithic could not have been aimed at slaughtering them for meat. A man at that time was so provided with meat from large game that he disdained nowadays delicious venison, its pets.

Dogs: a weapon of genocide or draft?

Assumptions by Russian scientists about domesticated dogs among Neanderthals are seriously at odds with the popular book "Invaders" by American anthropologist Pat Shipman, published in 2015. According to Shipman, it was the domestication of a dog that drove mammoths to hunt humans, and then guarded the mined meat, that allowed humans to oust the Neanderthals, occupying the top of the food pyramid. In her opinion, the whites of our eyes could be the key factor that made possible human-dog interaction. Recall: in humans, the main part of the surface of the eye is white, which is not typical for mammals. According to the researcher, this mutation appeared 40 thousand years ago. Thanks to this, Shipman believes, dogs can understand where people's eyes are directed during a hunt, which was difficult with Neanderthals, who supposedly did not have white eyes. True, the researcher herself notes that her hypothesis is still waiting for genetic evidence.

Illustration: Walter Myers / Stocktrek Images / Corbis / East News

Shipman's concept raises serious questions, not only because Altai dogs could have been Neanderthal in age. Australians, Bushmen, and a number of other human groups have never had a pet dog. Even when the dingo was brought to Australia by sea several thousand years ago, the natives did not rush to use a ready-made pet at all - on the contrary, like the Papuans with a singing New Guinean dog, they treated the dingo as wild and gradually pushed it back to sparsely populated areas. At the same time, the Australians settled their continent no later than 40 thousand years ago and since then have practically not interbred with the rest of the human race. And all the same, the Europeans who got to Australia portrayed the natives with normal whites of the eyes - exactly the same as today. All this makes the assumption about the relationship of mutations in the whites of the eyes with the domestication of canines somewhat ambiguous.

As is often the case with articles based on Russian findings and research, the works of Ovodov, Kuzmin, and Druzhkova, proving the ancient domestication of dogs, by themselves, could not decisively influence the discussions on this topic in the West. The point here is the traditional weak acquaintance of Western specialists with the achievements of Russian science. Often, something like a vicious circle is formed - our articles are rarely published in leading Western journals, because they believe that this or that branch of science is underdeveloped in our country, and they think so because there are no publications on the relevant topic in leading Western journals. And even if a couple of publications of this kind do appear, few people refer to them, which is why they rarely find themselves in the center of attention of the scientific community. So outside of Russia, the debate about the timing of dog domestication is still in full swing, and it may continue for a long time.

Photo: Alexander Piragis / RIA Novosti

Meanwhile, a joint group of supporters of Savolainen and Wayne is working on a research program, where they hope to resolve the differences that have arisen between them. To find out exactly whether the first domestication took place in the Paleolithic or in the Neolithic, scientists compare the bones of finds of fossil dogs around the world. The combined group has not yet reached a definitive conclusion on the date of domestication, but generally leans towards the pre-Neolithic scenario. However, their work has already brought the first unexpected result: in the back of the jaws of some ancient finds, there is a shortage of a pair of molars, for which there is room. This could mean that something like a bridle was used for sled dogs. If this is so, then the primitive domesticators were unusually advanced - the first primitive bridles of draft animals are usually attributed to the Neolithic, that is, 15-20 thousand years after the appearance of the first dogs.

HOW AND WHY A MAN TAMED A DOG

Ay, Pug! Know she's strong ...

I. A. Krylov

And therefore -

YES BUTTERS HELLO !!!

The second is to show that war is a new thing for a person, which caused an unnatural state of a person. That the war has changed a lot in a person's life, if not all. Show that modern man is literally sick with war and must be treated! Treat all of humanity as a whole and each person individually! There is only one remedy for humanity as a whole - PEACE AND TOTAL DISARMAMENT... And the author hopes to show how to treat each individual person from this disease, from war in one of the following works.

APPENDIX

The question of "planned" meetings of neighboring clans, that is, in fact, of deliberate and mutual visiting (why?), If not disclosed, at least partially, can undermine the credibility of the entire article. Therefore, in a nutshell, I have to explain it in this appendix. The human race has always been small in numbers. 40-60 people, no more. This size of the genus comes from two main reasons. The first reason is the origin of herd apes, in which the herd consisted of approximately the same number of individuals. The second reason is the combination of opportunities to feed and defend against predators. A large number of people in a certain area cannot feed themselves, and a smaller number cannot fight off predators. So our ancestors lived in genera of 40-60 people during the entire period of their development before the development of agriculture. This means that every year 4-5 new people were born, well, 6 people in total. In each family, statistically, on average over several years, an equal number of boys and girls were born. But in this particular year, more girls or boys were born. The quantitative inequality of the sexes is evident, besides, infant mortality from diseases was colossal, because there were no drugs of modern power in ancient times. The statistics of the 19th century, when medicine was already quite well developed, can give an idea of \u200b\u200bthe degree of infant mortality. So, according to these medical statistics, half of the newborns died before they even reached a year, and of the remaining half, another half died before the age of 5. These are the sad statistics. In the ancient times in question, cases of infant mortality from disease were hardly better than in the 19th century. Statistically, over the course of several years, an equal share of girls and boys died from diseases, but how many children and what sex in a given current year would die from diseases depended on a great many additional, specific circumstances in a given year and in a given genus. Since the unevenness of births and deaths from diseases overlapped each other, very often they mutually reinforced each other (although sometimes, quite rarely, they could also mutually compensate). As a result, there was a shortage of either boys or girls entering adulthood every year. There could be a shortage of young people of any one sex for several years in a row. And, since a person lived in families, then reproduction and satisfaction of sexual needs took place in the family and only in the family. And since every year there is a shortage of grooms or brides (it is an excess of brides or grooms, respectively), then all the time in each clan there were two problems: first, the number of families necessary for the reproduction of the clan was not formed; the second - there is always an excess of not attached grooms or brides who cannot create their own family because their peers died in childhood from diseases. The first is very dangerous for the genus, and it is necessary to get somewhere the right number of people of the right sex and the right age, so that the number of families necessary for the reproduction of the genus becomes again. We emphasize that there are no such people in the family. You can't wait for one of the kids to grow up and even out the imbalance of the sexes - you can not wait (do not forget about diseases). The second problem is the problem of relationships between people who already have a family and people who have not managed to create a family (no one). Excessive bachelors envy their family peers, envy the birth of their children; besides, bachelors are deprived of the opportunity to satisfy their sexual needs. All this leads single members of the clan into a state of dissatisfaction with life, in general, and life in their own clan in particular. In turn, married and married peers of bachelors, who are at the same time relatives and friends, brothers and sisters of single young people, sympathize with them, worry about them. They want to somehow arrange the fate of their relatives and friends and help them create their own family. (This desire of our ancestors was so strong that it ate right into the human body and now married or married people always try to marry their bachelor acquaintances and often they manage to do it). Such a situation has always existed in each separate clan and in all clans together. Each clan needed a balance of families, and in each clan there were people who wanted their friends to have families, i.e. each clan, in general, wanted to accommodate their bachelors. Therefore, when, with constant roaming, a meeting with neighbors took place, it was a real holiday for both clans. For each clan, as a whole, there was an opportunity to align the balance of families; for bachelors there was an opportunity to choose a couple that was suitable for their age; there was an opportunity for their friends and relatives to marry bachelors. Everyone was happy about it. Grooms or brides passed from family to family, to whom, where they liked more. The imbalance of families and the excess of bachelors in each clan decreased, but did not completely disappear, since the imbalance of bachelors of the same sex in one clan did not necessarily coincide with a similar imbalance of bachelors of the opposite sex in another clan. A meeting with another family was also required, where there would be bachelors suitable for this kind. And there may be more than one such meeting. Only then in the first clan and in all clans, in general, the excess of single young people was eliminated, and the number of families required in each clan was formed. Naturally, at the very beginning of human development, meetings of neighboring clans for the exchange of bachelors cannot be called planned. They had a more or less random character in time and place. But since the meetings of births for the exchange of bachelors were necessary for everyone, then over time and rather quickly, by historical standards, the most convenient places and times for such meetings were determined. Visiting neighbors to exchange bachelors has become deliberate and planned both in place and in time. By the way, at the same time, during such meetings it was possible to communicate with relatives or friends who had previously passed into another family. During the meetings, it was possible to see what the neighbors had mastered new and learn what was useful for themselves. Exchange anything of interest with a friend or relative. Give someone something. The teenagers look closely at each other, so that when you grow up they do not look for a mate, as they say "at random, saints", but already know in what family the person you like lives, etc. etc. Thus, there was not only an exchange of grooms and brides, but also the strengthening of friendly ties between clans, as well as a mutual exchange of experience, which, in addition, accelerated the development of the then "science and technology". That is, from all sides of a person's life, birth meetings were planned, peaceful, and friendly, and everyone brought joy and pleasure. But when people began to fight among themselves, the meeting of births began to cause everyone big trouble, resulting in military clashes with the killed, wounded and all other "delights" of the war.

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All mankind knows the indisputable fact that the dog is the best, the only true friend of man for a long time. Dogs faithfully and zealously serve a person until the end of his life and always side by side, guarding him.

When it is difficult for people and a difficult time in life, a faithful friend - a dog will give support and will be there, when funny events come, the dog will be happy on a par with a person. He will never leave either in trouble or in joy. Nowadays, the circle of using dogs is very large, there are several ways of serving dogs - these are police dogs, and hunting dogs, and guard dogs, and police dogs, and others.

But dogs have not always been such cute and loyal animals. Dogs in the ancient world are predators dangerous to humans, capable of crippling and even killing people with their fangs. These were not the dogs that we are used to seeing every day, these were their ancestors, which in modern history are called "" and are predators.

The predatory ancestors of dogs lived in the forests and hunted various animals, but over time, overfishing all the prey, the dogs began to experience hunger for a long time, and this threatened with truly terrible consequences for people and their children. Pretty soon, wolves began to visit the sites abandoned by people and got the opportunity sometimes to profit from something edible and even tasty.

By nature, the ancestors of dogs were similar to humans. They always tried to gather in flocks, helped each other, brought prey to everyone and were very interested in what was happening around. Eating the remnants of food in the former camps of people was a more affordable way of feeding the wolves than hunting for more or less appearing game in the forests, and therefore the animals very quickly got used to this way of feeding.

But people did not live in one place for a long time, they moved from one camp to another in search of food and a better life for themselves. The wolves did not think of anything else but to follow people through all their camps. Now they were not tied to one place, but led a nomadic lifestyle. Now these were no longer wild wolves, but half domesticated - not dogs yet, but no longer wolves.

Man, due to a certain benevolence and curiosity, did not drive or kill animals, allowing them to live nearby, looking closely at them. Wolves did not come close to people, and they did not feel in any danger in the society of animals. At the same time, people began to pay attention to animals, to get accustomed to them, to their habits and behavior on the hunt.

The understanding came that in tandem the strength and dexterity of a wolf is perfectly combined with the mind and cunning of a person, it remains only to somehow achieve mutual understanding and go hunting together. But before the unification of dogs and people, a long time passed. Neither side had the courage to come closer. As a result, this neighborhood has become familiar to both wolves and people.

Neither one nor the other were afraid of each other and lived peacefully, like good neighbors. But everything happens, and one day one of the most curious wolf and no less curious person still talked. This first contact between them was clumsy, timid, but nevertheless laid the foundation for a completely different communication between animals and humans. Gradually the domestication of the wolf began, everything happened slowly and measuredly. Time passed, and the wolves were already warming themselves near the fire next to the man, eating from the man's hands, allowing themselves to be touched.

Animals became more and more daring and irreplaceable. Around this period, people give the new domesticated wolf a new name - dog. Of course, after the new name was given, the dogs did not become completely tame. It took a long time. In our time, taming a wild dog is completely impossible. Even if there is already a certainty that the dog is completely domesticated and obeys man, sooner or later its animal nature will make itself felt, and this sometimes entails serious consequences.

For complete submission in a wild animal, you have to change all habits and character, and just a few years spent on this will not give results. Changes must take place over the centuries, and a considerable number of people must participate in this, capable of transforming one type of animal into another, new, perfect and domestic.

Indeed, in the case of the domestication of the dog, at least 10 centuries were spent to gain mutual trust and complete submission of the animal to man. Most likely, wolves are exactly the animals that should have made friends with some other type of animal, in this case it was a man, which is even better. The domestication of the wolf is an incredible success, which fell only once for a person in history, because no other species of predators have ever become friends. It is safe to say that the friendship of a man and a dog is for centuries.

The dog was the first animal to be tamed by man. What made the ancient people pay attention to the wolf, and how he made a meek, obedient animal out of a dangerous predator.

Stone Age dogs

The dog was the first animal to be tamed and domesticated by man. But scientists still have not come to a consensus when this happened. According to the most common version, the dog was domesticated 10-14 thousand years ago during the Neolithic. Some scientists, referring to a wolf's paw and a child's footprint found in the French Chauvet cave, argue that domestication took place during the Aurignacian culture of the Upper Paleolithic (32-26 thousand years ago).

Ancient centers of domestication

The question of where the first domestication took place also remains open. Earlier it was believed that the most ancient centers are East Asia and the Middle East. But in connection with new, earlier finds related to domestication, scientists from the University of Turku, led by Olaf Talmann, decided to reconsider the generally accepted point of view. Mitochondrial genes from the remains of representatives of ancient wolves, 18 ancient dogs, were taken as a basis, which were compared with the genes of 148 modern animals, including 49 wolves, 77 dogs and 4 coyotes.
Genetic analysis showed that the likely homeland of the dog was Europe, not India. According to scientists, the closest relatives of the modern dog are found among some groups of European wolves.

Taming

It is not known for certain exactly how the domestication took place - there are no written sources left, and archeology is poor in such details. Obviously, domestication was preceded by a period of domestication. It was not yet a dog, but a wolf (jackal, fox, hyena, depending on the area of \u200b\u200bresidence), which came to a man's dwelling, seduced by the smell of food. Feeding individuals could constantly visit a person who soon found use in a dangerous neighborhood. The man began to catch wolves, to take the puppies from the den. When they grew old and died, he caught new ones. At some point, this method became inconvenient. Firstly, it is not known when the "dog" will die, and secondly, new cubs must first be found, and then raised and taught not to rush on their own. But any delay is fraught - "man is a wolf to man." Here, obviously, the idea came to engage in breeding. They began to keep several "dogs" in the family, which ensured the change of generations without interruption.

Domestication

As you know, an animal born in natural conditions cannot completely get rid of natural instincts. His immediate descendants too. It is unknown how many generations it took a wolf to transform into a dog. Obviously, it took more than one hundred years. True, today the domestication process is much faster, since the accumulated knowledge and modern technologies simplify breeding. As Academician D.K.Belyaev's experience in fox domestication has shown, one selection within 25 years is enough for foxes to become friendly towards humans.

By the way, not all tamed animals become pets. History knows many examples of the domestication of the most exotic animals: from large predatory cats to crocodiles. Some scholars believe that even megateria (now extinct giant sloths) and cave bears were kept in captivity and tamed by primitive people. But all of them, for various reasons, did not become constant companions of man.

Why do dogs bark

Not all animals that became the ancestors of dogs bark. Wolves are known to like to howl. According to some cynologists, at the first stages of domestication, a person considered a dog as a "live signaling", therefore, in the process of selection, he left the loudest individuals next to him, capable of barking, and not howling.

Hunting companion

So, the dog became a constant companion of man. It was no longer a wolf, but a domestic animal that barked and thereby protected a person. One trouble - it forgot how to hunt. At least, this is what one of the versions says, according to which the dog at first was kept on a short leash, not allowing it to get food on its own. True, the dog still has one of its main abilities - a keen sense of smell. She could track animals, but barked when they approached. This is how the need for a hunting dog was born, which, unlike a guard dog, knows how to maintain silence. Oddly enough, the fact that the dog has forgotten how to get food for itself, getting it from the hands of a man, turned out to be very useful. Having caught the prey, she did not know what to do with it and brought it to the owner.

But hunting breeds, according to some versions, did not appear immediately, but thousands of years later, after the “Neolithic revolution, when people switched from gathering and hunting to cattle breeding and agriculture. Additional food appeared and the man could afford to keep additional dogs. Following the hunt, they began to be used in various spheres of life. New breeds for new tasks are being developed to this day.

Scientists claim that the very first animal tamed by ancient man was a dog.

How did it occur to primitive people that you can use wild animals for your own purposes? Why did the choice fall on a dangerous predator, the ancient ancestor of the merciless wolves? And how did you manage to turn the bloody enemy and enemy into an obedient pet?

Stone Age dogs

The dog was the first animal to be tamed and domesticated by man. But scientists still don't agree on when this happened. According to the most common version, the dog was domesticated 10-14 thousand years ago during the Neolithic. Some anthropologists, referring to a wolf's paw and a child's footprint found in the French Chauvet cave, argue that domestication took place during the Aurignacian culture of the Upper Paleolithic (32-26 thousand years ago).

In 2008, a radiocarbon analysis of the skull of a dog found in Altai (Razboinichya Cave) was carried out by Nikolai Ovodov, a paleontologist and employee of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the SB RAS. The result showed that the age of the ancient dog is about 32 thousand years. The remains of a dog from Goye Cave in Belgium (36.5 thousand years) are dated to about the same time.

Ancient centers of domestication

Wolf abilities

The species Homo Sapiens appeared at least several thousand years before domestication and for a long time did not pay attention to wolves that approached close to camps. More precisely, he did it, but only with the aim of driving away, and not feeding. What made him take a fresh look at his dangerous neighbor? Why, at some point, these animals were so interested in a person that he began to deliberately tame them and share food with them.

All wolves have two common traits - a scent and a sound signal with which they warn their relatives about danger. But what kind of danger are we talking about? Either the period of extinction drove predators to the human dwelling, or the threat was the man himself - a neighbor from the nearest cave. The latter could attack at night, when everyone is asleep, the fire is not a hindrance to him either. The sentries do not always have time to raise the alarm. But the wolf is another case. He will smell a stranger from afar. And he will not be slow to declare this.

Taming

It is not known for certain exactly how the domestication took place - there are no written sources left, and archeology is poor in such details. Obviously, it was preceded by a period of domestication. It was not yet a dog, but a wolf (jackal, fox, hyena, depending on the area of \u200b\u200bresidence), which came to a man's dwelling, seduced by the smell of food. Feeding individuals could constantly visit a person who soon found use in a dangerous neighborhood. The man began to catch wolves, to take the puppies from the den. When they grew old and died, he caught new ones. At some point, this method became inconvenient. Firstly, it is not known when the "dog" will die, and secondly, new cubs must first be found, and then raised and taught not to rush on their own. But any delay is fraught - "man is a wolf to man." Here, obviously, the idea came to engage in breeding. They began to keep several "dogs" in the family, which ensured the change of generations without interruption.

Domestication

As you know, an animal born in natural conditions cannot completely get rid of natural instincts. His immediate descendants too. It is unknown how many generations it took a wolf to transform into a dog. Obviously, it took more than one hundred years. True, today, the domestication process is much faster, since the accumulated knowledge and modern technologies simplify the selection. As Academician D.K.Belyaev's experience in fox domestication has shown, one selection within 25 years is enough for foxes to become friendly towards humans.

First barking

Not all animals that became the ancestors of dogs bark. Wolves are known to like to howl. What happened, from what he, next to the man, had to change a deep howl for a sonorous barking? And why do today's dogs bark only at what may pose a danger to the owner?

As we have already found out, the main duty of the dog was to alert the person to the threat. According to some cynologists, at the first stages of domestication, if the dog did not make sounds in danger, then all the other properties of it did not interest the person. So, she was either beaten, or deprived of food, or simply killed, and a new one was grown instead. So with every new smell, the dog had to bark. And the man sometimes encouraged her, then punished her for a false alarm. Perhaps this is how, through experience, the dog learned to respond to certain smells, while ignoring others.

Why barking? According to some versions, a person encouraged barking as the most sonorous manifestation of a dog's voice. More precisely, he left next to him the loudest individuals, whose "talk" was more close to the current dog barking than to the wolf howl.

Hunting companion

But the dog has one extremely useful property - the scent. She could track animals, but barked when they approached. This is how the need for a hunting dog was born, which, unlike a guard dog, knows how to maintain silence. Oddly enough, the fact that the dog has forgotten how to get food on its own, getting it from the hands of a man, turned out to be very useful. Having caught the prey, she did not know what to do with it and brought it to the owner.