Where did the people who populated America come from? They were of Northeast Asian descent. Did you come alone? Dogs accompanied the first Americans. This is confirmed by an international team of researchers led by archaeologist Angela Perri. It belongs to the University of Durham.
Last to populate
They examined the archaeological and genetic records of ancient people and dogs. This suggests that domestication of dogs probably took place in Siberia 23,000 years ago. The results are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
America was one of the last regions in the world where people lived. By then, dogs had been domesticated by their wolf ancestors and likely played a variety of roles in human societies.
Perri explains: “Dog domestication takes place in Siberia. It answers many of the questions we always had about the origins of the human-dog relationship. Then from there they spread to America and the world.
Laurent Frantz (Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich) is co-author. He said, “We knew that dogs were not domesticated in the Americas. We now know that they must have been present somewhere in Siberia before people emigrated to America.
The cold that is approaching
The combined evidence from ancient humans and dogs makes us understand the deep history of dogs. And now it is targeting Siberia and Northeast Asia. It is a likely region where dog domestication began. ‘
The last glacier maximum was 23,000 to 19,000 years ago. Beringia (the land and sea area between Canada and Russia) and most of Siberia were extremely cold and dry. This could bring the human and wolf populations closer together as they attract the same prey.
This increasing interaction could have sparked a relationship between species.
Dogs accompanied the first Americans. They were just as much a part of their cultural repertoire as the stone tools they carried. Dogs have played a variety of roles in human societies. The partner you may have at home has been close to us for a long time.
