Washington, Feb 4 (PTI) It seems men first domesticated foxes before dogs became their best friend, scientists say.
Their relationship was so strong that the animals were even buried in the graves along with their masters, according to a study of a prehistoric cemetery found in the Middle East.
The discovery, the researchers said, could shed light on the nature and timing of newly developing relationships between people and beasts before animals were domesticated.
It also hints that key aspects of ancient practices surrounding death might have originated earlier than before thought, said the researchers who found remains of foxes along with humans in the 16,500-year-old burial ground.
Researcher Lisa Maher, a prehistoric archaeologist at the University of Cambridge, said it seems the fox was treated in a special way from any other animals at that time.
"We think that this represents a significant social relationship, something that clearly goes far beyond the domestication of animals as livestock,"Maher told LiveScience.
The ancient graveyard, known as "Uyun al-Hammam", was discovered in Wadi Ziqlab in northern Jordan in 2000. It dates back to just before the emergence of the Natufian culture, who were known to be farming wild cereals such as wheat, barley and oats.
These communities dwelled 11,600 to 14,500 years ago in the region and was known to bury people with dogs.
However, the new discovery at ''Uyun al-Hammam'' shows that some of these practices took place earlier with a different animal -- the fox.
From the site, researchers found human skeletons along with artifacts such as stone tools, a bone spoon and bone dagger, red ochre and an iron mineral.
The other things they found from the site were the remains of red foxes, suggesting that the animals were buried with their masters to accompany them in their afterlife.
Although foxes are relatively easy to tame, domesticating them might have failed because of their skittish and timid nature, the scientists said.
This might explain why dogs ultimately achieved "man''s best friend" status instead. However, fox symbolism and fox remains are quite common in later Stone Age sites, both in domestic and burial contexts, "so even when other animals were domesticated, prehistoric people maintained an interest in the fox," Maher said.
The graves at the Jordan site do contain the remains of other kinds of animals, so "we can only take the fox-dog analogy so far," said researcher Edward Banning at the University of Toronto.
The scientists detailed their findings in the journal PLoS ONE.
Their relationship was so strong that the animals were even buried in the graves along with their masters, according to a study of a prehistoric cemetery found in the Middle East.
The discovery, the researchers said, could shed light on the nature and timing of newly developing relationships between people and beasts before animals were domesticated.
It also hints that key aspects of ancient practices surrounding death might have originated earlier than before thought, said the researchers who found remains of foxes along with humans in the 16,500-year-old burial ground.
Researcher Lisa Maher, a prehistoric archaeologist at the University of Cambridge, said it seems the fox was treated in a special way from any other animals at that time.
"We think that this represents a significant social relationship, something that clearly goes far beyond the domestication of animals as livestock,"Maher told LiveScience.
The ancient graveyard, known as "Uyun al-Hammam", was discovered in Wadi Ziqlab in northern Jordan in 2000. It dates back to just before the emergence of the Natufian culture, who were known to be farming wild cereals such as wheat, barley and oats.
These communities dwelled 11,600 to 14,500 years ago in the region and was known to bury people with dogs.
However, the new discovery at ''Uyun al-Hammam'' shows that some of these practices took place earlier with a different animal -- the fox.
From the site, researchers found human skeletons along with artifacts such as stone tools, a bone spoon and bone dagger, red ochre and an iron mineral.
The other things they found from the site were the remains of red foxes, suggesting that the animals were buried with their masters to accompany them in their afterlife.
Although foxes are relatively easy to tame, domesticating them might have failed because of their skittish and timid nature, the scientists said.
This might explain why dogs ultimately achieved "man''s best friend" status instead. However, fox symbolism and fox remains are quite common in later Stone Age sites, both in domestic and burial contexts, "so even when other animals were domesticated, prehistoric people maintained an interest in the fox," Maher said.
The graves at the Jordan site do contain the remains of other kinds of animals, so "we can only take the fox-dog analogy so far," said researcher Edward Banning at the University of Toronto.
The scientists detailed their findings in the journal PLoS ONE.
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