Dogs: Domestication and the Development of a Social Bond [Hardcover]

Dogs provides a comprehensive account of the origins and development of the domestic dog over the past 15,000 years.Dogs have developed a distinctive social bond with people throughout the world. This book traces the dogs journey through time, from its origins about 15,000 years ago to the present. Using archaeological and modern evidence, it explores the process of dog domestication, evolution of dogs from their wolf ancestors, and the roles of dogs in human societies through time.Dogs have developed a distinctive social bond with people throughout the world. This book traces the dogs journey through time, from its origins about 15,000 years ago to the present. Using archaeological and modern evidence, it explores the process of dog domestication, evolution of dogs from their wolf ancestors, and the roles of dogs in human societies through time.This book traces the evolution of the dog, from its origins about 15,000 years ago up to recent times. The timing of dog domestication receives attention, with comparisons between different genetics-based models and archaeological evidence. Allometric patterns between dogs and their ancestors, wolves, shed light on the nature of the morphological changes that dogs underwent. Dog burials highlight a unifying theme of the whole book: the development of a distinctive social bond between dogs and people; the book also explores why dogs and people relate so well to each other. Though cosmopolitan in overall scope, greatest emphasis is on the New World, with entire chapter devoted to dogs of the arctic regions, mostly in the New World. Discussion of several distinctive modern roles of dogs underscores the social bond between dogs and people.1. Introduction; 2. Immediate ancestry; 3. Evidence of dog domestication and its timing: morphological and contextual indications; 4. Domestication: of dogs and other organisms; 5. The roles of dogs in past human societies; 6. Dogs of the arctic, the far north; 7. The burial of dogs, and whatlƒ1