Domestication of the dog, humanity's first domesticated animal
- Date
- c. 16,000 – 14,000 years ago
- Category
- Science, technology & invention
- Region
- Eurasia (earliest secure find: Germany)
- Era
- Prehistory
- Significance
The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) was the first species humans domesticated, well before any plant or livestock and while people were still mobile hunter-gatherers.
Dogs descend from an extinct Late Pleistocene population of grey wolves; the precise time and place of domestication remain debated, with genetic estimates ranging widely and some claims of much earlier 'incipient' dogs. The earliest broadly accepted domestic dog is the Bonn-Oberkassel dog from Germany, directly dated to about 14,200 years ago, found buried alongside two humans. The young animal had survived a serious bout of illness, implying sustained human care and an emotional bond, not merely utilitarian use. Domestication likely arose as wolves scavenged around human camps and tamer, less fearful individuals were favoured over generations, perhaps through both natural and deliberate selection. Dogs transformed human life: as hunting partners, sentinels, beasts of burden and companions, they extended human capabilities and forged a partnership that long predates the Neolithic domestication of sheep, goats, cattle and pigs around 11,000 years ago.
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Related science, technology & invention events
- Jōmon pottery and complex foragers in Japanc. 16,500 – 11,000 years ago (c. 14,500–9000 BCE)
- Australopithecus afarensis ('Lucy' and relatives)c. 3.9–2.9 million years ago
- Discovery of the Denisovans and archaic-modern interbreedingc. 100,000 – 40,000 years ago (interbreeding); identified 2010
- Domestication of maize from teosinte in Mesoamericac. 7000 BCE (c. 9,000 years ago)
- Domestication of rice in the Yangtze River basinc. 8000–6000 BCE
- Earliest Controlled Use of Fire by Homo erectusc. 1,000,000 BCE
Further reading
The wider story
A Little History of Science
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