Friend or foe? Large canid remains from Pavlovian sites and their archaeozoological context

In this paper we discuss recent claims that dogs were first domesticated from wild wolves in the Middle Upper Paleolithic (MUP), about 27 ka BP. According to our data, we think the presence of large canids at the Pavlovian/MUP sites is a result of hunting specialization and not a sign of an early process of dog domestication. Our interpretation is supported by the following observations, whose implications we discuss: (1) Pavlovian faunal assemblages from seven sites in Moravia contain relatively high numbers of large canids; (2) gnaw-marking by large canids occurs with low frequency on the animal bones in these assemblages; (3) the bones of Pavlovian large canids in the sites often have cut marks from skinning, dismembering, and filleting. Whatever the reasons MUP people had for killing wolves, such as for food or for the skins, the effect would have reduced competition for prey between humans and wolves. The relatively high frequency of wolves at Pavlovian sites may have been a side effect of settlement aggregation and long-term occupations of sites, which could have attracted wolves to the settlements, and thus increased the need for humans to reduce their numbers.