Dogs have been humanity’s faithful companions since their domestication from gray wolves, yet the exact timing, location, and reasons behind this process have long remained unclear. Recent genetic studies have now shed new light, identifying the earliest-known dog dating back 15,800 years. This ancient canine was discovered through bones excavated at the Pinarbasi rock shelter in Turkey, a site once inhabited by hunter-gatherer communities.
This finding predates the previously oldest genetically confirmed dog by approximately 5,000 years. The Pinarbasi dog, along with several other nearly as ancient canines found across Europe, demonstrates that dogs were already widespread and deeply integrated into human societies thousands of years before agriculture emerged.
These groundbreaking results were detailed in two scientific papers published simultaneously in the journal Nature. William Marsh, a postdoctoral researcher at the Francis Crick Institute in London and co-lead author of one study, explained that DNA evidence indicates dogs existed in various parts of western Eurasia by 18,000 years ago and had already diverged significantly from wolves genetically. He noted that the divergence between dog and wolf populations likely occurred well before the last glacial maximum of the Ice Age, over 24,000 years ago, although some uncertainty remains.
The dog lineage originated from an ancient wolf population distinct from modern wolves and represents the first animal domesticated by humans, preceding goats, sheep, cattle, and cats. Anders Bergström, a geneticist at the University of East Anglia and lead author of the second study, emphasized the unique role dogs have played alongside humans through major lifestyle changes and the rise of complex societies. Unlike many domesticated animals, dogs often served primarily as companions rather than fulfilling strictly defined roles.
Bergström’s team conducted the largest genetic survey to date of ancient European canid remains, analyzing 216 samples dating from 46,000 to 2,000 years ago across Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. They identified 46 dogs and 95 wolves, highlighting the difficulty in distinguishing early dogs from wolves based solely on skeletal features, thus underscoring the importance of genetic analysis.
The oldest dog identified in this European study was from Switzerland’s Kesslerloch Cave, dating back 14,200 years. The ancient European dogs shared a common origin with dogs from Asia and other regions, indicating a single domestication event rather than multiple independent ones.
Marsh’s study revealed how highly valued dogs were among hunter-gatherers at Pinarbasi, where both human and dog burials were found, sometimes interred together. Evidence also suggests that these early humans fed their dogs fish. The research identified five dogs dating between 15,800 and 14,300 years ago, including remains from Gough’s Cave near Cheddar in England.
At Gough’s Cave, human remains showed signs of butchering and possible cannibalism as part of funerary practices, and similar post-mortem modifications were observed on dog bones, though not definitively linked to consumption. The dogs from Pinarbasi and Gough’s Cave were genetically closer to ancestors of modern European and Middle Eastern breeds such as boxers and salukis, rather than Arctic breeds like Siberian huskies.
Beyond companionship, these ancient dogs may have assisted in hunting or acted as early warning systems, akin to Ice Age alarm dogs. Despite the diversity of modern dog breeds, these early dogs likely resembled their wolf ancestors more closely.
In a significant development, Bergström noted that while the exact when, where, and why of dog domestication remain largely unresolved, current evidence points to Asia as the probable origin, with further research needed to pinpoint the details.
