“The concept of ‘race’ is very recent and does not apply to the archaeological record,” Evin said. Of course, for as long as we have had dogs, people have been breeding dogs for particular traits, and small lap dogs existed even in ancient Rome. However, it is unlikely that a Neolithic herder would have described his dog as a different “breed” from his neighbour’s hunting companion, even if they looked quite different. Which, apparently, they did.
By the Neolithic period dogs had about half their modern diversity (at least in skull shape and size).
Credit: Kiona Smith
Bones tell only part of the story
“We know from genetic models that domestication should have started during the late Pleistocene,” Avin told Ars. A 2021 study suggested that domestic dogs have been a separate species from wolves for more than 23,000 years. But it took some time for differences to arise.
Evin and his colleagues had 17 dog skulls that were between 12,700 and 50,000 years old – before the end of the Ice Age – and they all looked like modern wolves, as Evin said, “At the moment, we have no evidence to suggest that any of the wolf-like skulls belonged to wolves or looked different from them.” In other words, if you’re only looking at the skull, it’s difficult to distinguish the oldest dogs from wild wolves.
Of course, we have no way of knowing what a living dog would have looked like. It is noteworthy that Avin and his colleagues found the skull of a modern St. Bernard, which, according to their statistical analysis, resembled a wolf more than a dog. But even if it’s not serving you a keg of brandy, there’s no mistaking the live Saint Bernard with its droopy jaws and floppy ears for a wolf.
“Skull shape tells us a lot about function and evolutionary history, but it represents only one aspect of the animal’s appearance. This means that two dogs with very similar skulls could have looked quite different in life,” Evin told Ars. “This is an important reminder that the archaeological record records only part of the biological and cultural story.”
And with only bones – and sparse bones – to go on, we can remember some of the earliest chapters of the biological and cultural story of dogs. Domestication selects the most sociable animals to produce the next generation, and obviously it comes with a particular set of evolutionary side effects, whether you’re studying wolves, foxes, cattle, or pigs. The spots, floppy ears and curled tail all seem to be part of the genetic package that comes with inter-species friendship. But none of those symptoms are visible in the skull.