The Connection Between Dogs And Humans Is An Ancient One, And This Is How Long Ago We Think Dogs Became Our Besties

The dog was 18-months-old. The causes of their deaths are unclear, but the infant was a newborn and was possibly dead at birth.

The reason that the dog was buried with the baby may have been because dogs were associated with deities of birth and childhood, so they would be sacrificed to the gods when a child was born.

The dog could also have been a beloved member of the infant’s family and was sacrificed to accompany the child as a companion in the afterworld.

An old injury and the diet of the animal could be interpreted as evidence that it was considered a best friend.

The researchers studied the isotopes in the bones of the dogs that were found in the graves. The dog buried with the adult man had a typical diet—it ate a little bit of everything.

However, the dog buried with the infant had eaten a diet that consisted mostly of carbohydrates and was low in animal proteins. The dog also had broken one of its front legs long ago, and it had healed poorly.

The injury indicates that the dog must’ve been used for hunting or protecting livestock. After it got hurt, it was unable to work and was kept as a pet instead, so it was fed the same food as the humans of the household.

Overall, the new findings seem to suggest that the special connection between dogs and humans is an ancient one, stretching back thousands of years ago.