Mexico's mummified PET dog could unlock secrets of ancient tribes: 1,000-year-old canine believed to be domesticated and used in hunting expeditions
The discovery of a mummified dog in Mexico could unlock secrets about the country's mysterious ancient tribal groups' hunting traditions.
Anthropologist Isaac Aquino exhibited the estimated 1000-year-old canine remains at regional museum in the city of Torreon.
It was found in Candelaria Cave in Coahuila, a semi-arid region of northern Mexico.
The discovery is a first of its kind for Mexico, with mummified canines only previously found in Peru and Egypt.
Experts believe that the dog was domesticated by a local tribe and used in hunting expeditions.
Archaeologist Alejandro Bautista Valdespino said: 'It reinforces the idea that dogs were placed as companions in the funerary traditions of the region’s nomads, it also presents the possibility that these animals were domesticated.'
The animal, believed to have been mummified naturally, was found alongside hundreds of human remains, as well as thousands of ancient artifacts including textiles, baskets, and bows and arrows.
Archaeologist Yuri De La Rosa said: 'This is the first mummified canine that has an archaeological context.
Source
Companion: The 1000-year-old mummified dog is the first one to be found in Mexico and could help archaeologists unravel the secrets of the country's ancient tribes
'In this case it’s a natural mummification because of the desert and dry conditions. The skin dried to the bones and it was mummified naturally.'
The ancient hound will soon be measured, X-rayed and carbon tested to determine its exact age and breed.
VIDEO Mummified dog found in Mexico
It's in a genetic level that many animals especially dogs and cats are programmed to live along with a human. Genetically programmed by Nature. And now when humans harm them it's a betrayl of Nature. And life shows Nature always answers but ITS answer is like a delayed action bomb.
Looks like a Chihuahua... Not sure about genetically programmed, more like domesticated. Dog packs followed human hunters, relying on the scraps left behind. This formed a bond as human hunters learned to rely on the dogs instincts in perfecting their own hunting skills, creating a binding relationship between the two species over thousands of years. Dogs have been living with humans for about 20 thousand years, while cats only about 7 thousand years, which is why cats are a little more wild and independent than dogs...
Do some research, yes, dogs are genetically predisposed for humans rather then their own kind. Studies have shown that dogs can read human gestures and behavior while egnorning or not responding to the same things in their own species. When reverce tests were done, humans were able to tell in sound recordings what a dog wanted or what may have been happening just by sound. This is something we, like the dogs were less or unable to do, with out own species.
Looks like an Italian Greyhound.
Looks similar in musculature to an Italian Greyhound.
Could Be a `Lurcher` of Some Sort... Some Sort of Greyhound, I agree brazenbootica. Quite Sweet Really :)
looks like a hound to me as well..
Legs are way to long to be a Chihuahua. Looks like an Italian Greyhound to me, or a Cirneco Del Etna possibly.
Sure does look like an Italian Greyhound. Wonder how one of them came from Egypt that long ago? Perhaps it's not as ancient a mummy as they think?
Definitely looks like an Italian Greyhound - even has the hare feet.