Archaeology Terms

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Dog

Dog bones People and dogs have a long history of coexisting.  Dogs probably served as guards or an early warning of strangers approaching a village, probably helped with hunting, and definitely helped to clean up around the village (as evidenced by gnawing marks on bone recovered from sites).  Archaeological remains of dogs have been recovered from area sites.  Pictured are four dog paws excavated from the Pammel Creek site located south of La Crosse, Wisconsin.  It is unknown why only the paws are present and why they are placed next to each other.