Scratchings-and-Sniffings |
| More Controversy of the Origin of the Dog Posted: 11 Sep 2009 11:02 AM PDT
The researchers believe that the dog was domesticated from the wolf in a single event in China some 14,000 years ago. They think that wolves used to hang out around human garbage dumps looking for an easy meal. They became accustomed to humans through this close association and started thinking of people as a meal ticket. That allowed humans to get close enough to capture wolves. The disturbing part is that humans also seemed to think "food source" when they first began to capture these wolves. According to these scientists dogs as food has been a common occurrence in China since the earliest days of domestication. The better news is that domestication of dogs spread like wildfire around the known world after this seminal event in China and the results were better for dogs and their people in these new areas. Instead of food, people started to see dogs a protectors of their possessions and in helping them move their stuff around by pulling sleds. In fact, dogs were so good at these things that they helped speed the transition from hunting and gathering to settlement, agriculture and the developments that led to civilization as we know it today. At least the good parts anyway. Other researchers believe that the first dogs came from Africa or that maybe domestication was simultaneous in both places. In any event we're glad it happened. And glad it evolved into a mutually beneficial relationship as opposed to another recipe in The Joy of Cooking. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Scratchings-and-Sniffings To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment