Large canids at the Gravettian Predmosti site, the Czech Republic: The Mandible

M. Germonpre; M. Laznickova-Galetova; Robert J.  Losey; J. Raikkonen; M.V. Sablin

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.07.012

Large canids at the Gravettian Predmosti site, the Czech Republic: The Mandible

M. Germonpre, M. Laznickova-Galetova, Robert J. Losey, J. Raikkonen, M.V. Sablin

Arctic Domus Research Group

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

70 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Efforts to identify Paleolithic dogs or incipient dogs have been based mainly on examination of complete or nearly complete crania. Complete skulls are, however, very rare in the archaeological record. Because canid mandible are far more frequently found in Pleistocene assemblages, the objective of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to differentiate these jaws by metric and osteomorphological methods in two morphotypes: Paleolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves. This paper is mainly based on the very rich canid assemblage from the Gravettian Předmostí site in the Czech Republic, but also includes a few mandible from several other European Paleolithic sites. This study provides additional evidence of the existence at Předmostí of the two canid morphotypes. The metric data indicate that the mandible of the Paleolithic dogs are shorter than those from Pleistocene wolves in all tested measurements of length, and the carnassial crown length is shorter in Paleolithic dogs compared with the length of this tooth in Pleistocene wolves. Furthermore, in eight of nine indexes, the Paleolithic dogs differ significantly from the Pleistocene wolves. The mandible of Paleolithic dogs differ also in non-metric features from the Pleistocene wolves: they present a high frequency of crowded premolars and backwards-oriented apex of the coronoid. This paper furthermore confirms that Paleolithic dogs occur at two late Upper Paleolithic sites (Eliseevichi, Verholenskaya) where previous studies had indicated their presence. In addition, we document the presence of Paleolithic dogs at another Gravettian site, Kostenki-8.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	261-279
Number of pages	19
Journal	Quaternary International
Volume	359-360
Early online date	15 Aug 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.07.012
Publication status	Published - 2 Mar 2015

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgments
We thank Piotr Wojtal (Polska Akademia Nauk, Kraków) for inviting us to give a presentation at the conference “World of Gravettian Hunters” that was held in Kraków from 25 to 28 June 2013 and to submit this paper for the publication of the conference. We thank Martina Roblickova (Anthropos Institute, the Czech Republick), Georges Lenglet (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences), Viviane Desmet (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium), Mogens Andersen (Natural History Museum of Denmark), Roberto Portela Miguez (Natural History Museum, London) and Daniela Kalthoff (Swedish Museum of Natural History) for permitting us to study material held in their care.We thank Wilfried Miseur (RBINS) and Adriano Versypen (RBINS) for their help with the photographs, map and graphs. Valuable information was provided by Olaf Thalmann (Uppsala University) and Patrik Galeta (University of West Bohemia). We thank two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments. Financial support to Mikhail V. Sablin was provided by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant 13-04-00203). Financial support to Martina Lázničková-Galetová was provided by the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, the Czech Republic (Project OP VK NOTES CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0135).

Keywords

canids
Mandible
Gravettian Predmosti
canidae
domestication
dog
wolf
Upper Paleolithic
DFA

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title = "Large canids at the Gravettian Predmosti site, the Czech Republic: The Mandible",

abstract = "Efforts to identify Paleolithic dogs or incipient dogs have been based mainly on examination of complete or nearly complete crania. Complete skulls are, however, very rare in the archaeological record. Because canid mandible are far more frequently found in Pleistocene assemblages, the objective of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to differentiate these jaws by metric and osteomorphological methods in two morphotypes: Paleolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves. This paper is mainly based on the very rich canid assemblage from the Gravettian P{\v r}edmost{\'i} site in the Czech Republic, but also includes a few mandible from several other European Paleolithic sites. This study provides additional evidence of the existence at P{\v r}edmost{\'i} of the two canid morphotypes. The metric data indicate that the mandible of the Paleolithic dogs are shorter than those from Pleistocene wolves in all tested measurements of length, and the carnassial crown length is shorter in Paleolithic dogs compared with the length of this tooth in Pleistocene wolves. Furthermore, in eight of nine indexes, the Paleolithic dogs differ significantly from the Pleistocene wolves. The mandible of Paleolithic dogs differ also in non-metric features from the Pleistocene wolves: they present a high frequency of crowded premolars and backwards-oriented apex of the coronoid. This paper furthermore confirms that Paleolithic dogs occur at two late Upper Paleolithic sites (Eliseevichi, Verholenskaya) where previous studies had indicated their presence. In addition, we document the presence of Paleolithic dogs at another Gravettian site, Kostenki-8.",

keywords = "canids, Mandible, Gravettian Predmosti, canidae, domestication, dog, wolf, Upper Paleolithic, DFA",

author = "M. Germonpre and M. Laznickova-Galetova and Losey, {Robert J.} and J. Raikkonen and M.V. Sablin",

note = "Acknowledgments We thank Piotr Wojtal (Polska Akademia Nauk, Krak{\'o}w) for inviting us to give a presentation at the conference “World of Gravettian Hunters” that was held in Krak{\'o}w from 25 to 28 June 2013 and to submit this paper for the publication of the conference. We thank Martina Roblickova (Anthropos Institute, the Czech Republick), Georges Lenglet (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences), Viviane Desmet (Universit{\'e} Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium), Mogens Andersen (Natural History Museum of Denmark), Roberto Portela Miguez (Natural History Museum, London) and Daniela Kalthoff (Swedish Museum of Natural History) for permitting us to study material held in their care.We thank Wilfried Miseur (RBINS) and Adriano Versypen (RBINS) for their help with the photographs, map and graphs. Valuable information was provided by Olaf Thalmann (Uppsala University) and Patrik Galeta (University of West Bohemia). We thank two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments. Financial support to Mikhail V. Sablin was provided by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant 13-04-00203). Financial support to Martina L{\'a}zni{\v c}kov{\'a}-Galetov{\'a} was provided by the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, the Czech Republic (Project OP VK NOTES CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0135).",

year = "2015",

month = mar,

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doi = "10.1016/j.quaint.2014.07.012",

language = "English",

volume = "359-360",

pages = "261--279",

journal = "Quaternary International",

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T1 - Large canids at the Gravettian Predmosti site, the Czech Republic

T2 - The Mandible

AU - Germonpre, M.

AU - Laznickova-Galetova, M.

AU - Losey, Robert J.

AU - Raikkonen, J.

AU - Sablin, M.V.

N1 - Acknowledgments We thank Piotr Wojtal (Polska Akademia Nauk, Kraków) for inviting us to give a presentation at the conference “World of Gravettian Hunters” that was held in Kraków from 25 to 28 June 2013 and to submit this paper for the publication of the conference. We thank Martina Roblickova (Anthropos Institute, the Czech Republick), Georges Lenglet (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences), Viviane Desmet (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium), Mogens Andersen (Natural History Museum of Denmark), Roberto Portela Miguez (Natural History Museum, London) and Daniela Kalthoff (Swedish Museum of Natural History) for permitting us to study material held in their care.We thank Wilfried Miseur (RBINS) and Adriano Versypen (RBINS) for their help with the photographs, map and graphs. Valuable information was provided by Olaf Thalmann (Uppsala University) and Patrik Galeta (University of West Bohemia). We thank two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments. Financial support to Mikhail V. Sablin was provided by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant 13-04-00203). Financial support to Martina Lázničková-Galetová was provided by the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, the Czech Republic (Project OP VK NOTES CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0135).

PY - 2015/3/2

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N2 - Efforts to identify Paleolithic dogs or incipient dogs have been based mainly on examination of complete or nearly complete crania. Complete skulls are, however, very rare in the archaeological record. Because canid mandible are far more frequently found in Pleistocene assemblages, the objective of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to differentiate these jaws by metric and osteomorphological methods in two morphotypes: Paleolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves. This paper is mainly based on the very rich canid assemblage from the Gravettian Předmostí site in the Czech Republic, but also includes a few mandible from several other European Paleolithic sites. This study provides additional evidence of the existence at Předmostí of the two canid morphotypes. The metric data indicate that the mandible of the Paleolithic dogs are shorter than those from Pleistocene wolves in all tested measurements of length, and the carnassial crown length is shorter in Paleolithic dogs compared with the length of this tooth in Pleistocene wolves. Furthermore, in eight of nine indexes, the Paleolithic dogs differ significantly from the Pleistocene wolves. The mandible of Paleolithic dogs differ also in non-metric features from the Pleistocene wolves: they present a high frequency of crowded premolars and backwards-oriented apex of the coronoid. This paper furthermore confirms that Paleolithic dogs occur at two late Upper Paleolithic sites (Eliseevichi, Verholenskaya) where previous studies had indicated their presence. In addition, we document the presence of Paleolithic dogs at another Gravettian site, Kostenki-8.

AB - Efforts to identify Paleolithic dogs or incipient dogs have been based mainly on examination of complete or nearly complete crania. Complete skulls are, however, very rare in the archaeological record. Because canid mandible are far more frequently found in Pleistocene assemblages, the objective of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to differentiate these jaws by metric and osteomorphological methods in two morphotypes: Paleolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves. This paper is mainly based on the very rich canid assemblage from the Gravettian Předmostí site in the Czech Republic, but also includes a few mandible from several other European Paleolithic sites. This study provides additional evidence of the existence at Předmostí of the two canid morphotypes. The metric data indicate that the mandible of the Paleolithic dogs are shorter than those from Pleistocene wolves in all tested measurements of length, and the carnassial crown length is shorter in Paleolithic dogs compared with the length of this tooth in Pleistocene wolves. Furthermore, in eight of nine indexes, the Paleolithic dogs differ significantly from the Pleistocene wolves. The mandible of Paleolithic dogs differ also in non-metric features from the Pleistocene wolves: they present a high frequency of crowded premolars and backwards-oriented apex of the coronoid. This paper furthermore confirms that Paleolithic dogs occur at two late Upper Paleolithic sites (Eliseevichi, Verholenskaya) where previous studies had indicated their presence. In addition, we document the presence of Paleolithic dogs at another Gravettian site, Kostenki-8.

KW - canids

KW - Mandible

KW - Gravettian Predmosti

KW - canidae

KW - domestication

KW - dog

KW - wolf

KW - Upper Paleolithic

KW - DFA

U2 - 10.1016/j.quaint.2014.07.012

DO - 10.1016/j.quaint.2014.07.012

M3 - Article

SN - 1040-6182

VL - 359-360

SP - 261

EP - 279

JO - Quaternary International

JF - Quaternary International

ER -

Large canids at the Gravettian Predmosti site, the Czech Republic: The Mandible

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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