WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Long Have We Been Keeping Dogs on Leashes?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>Rain Stuff Lauren boglebom here with another classic episode. When

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<v Speaker 1>this one first came out, research had just been published

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<v Speaker 1>showing the keeping dogs as pets, leashes and everything is

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<v Speaker 1>a practice way older than anyone previously suspected. Welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>bogobom here, Your dog might not like being on a leash.

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<v Speaker 1>He loves walks, of course, but could it be his

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<v Speaker 1>glances are sometimes a touch reproachful. As he gazes at

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<v Speaker 1>you over the pile of leaves he's snuffling. The look

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<v Speaker 1>might be saying, I am hurt by your distrust your ancestors.

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<v Speaker 1>Let my ancestors roam free and now here I a

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<v Speaker 1>noble beast and chained. If your dog lays that one

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<v Speaker 1>on you, your best recourse is to show him the

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<v Speaker 1>world's oldest known dog art. Ancient humans may have been primitive,

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<v Speaker 1>but even nine years ago they seem to have been

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<v Speaker 1>wise to the ways of the canine. A study published

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<v Speaker 1>in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology in November seventeen describes

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<v Speaker 1>recently discovered rock carvings in the northwestern region of the

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<v Speaker 1>Saudi Arabian Desert. They illustrate prehistoric hunting practices using dogs

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<v Speaker 1>as assistants. The depicted dogs look much like modern Canan dogs,

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<v Speaker 1>with erect ears, long feathery tails, and short snouts. Each

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<v Speaker 1>one has a distinctive coat pattern, suggesting the artists knew

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<v Speaker 1>the dogs personally and similar to modern dogs. Two are

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<v Speaker 1>shown tethered to the waste of a human hunter. The

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<v Speaker 1>engravings were discovered as part of a project led by

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<v Speaker 1>a research team from the Max Planck Institute for the

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<v Speaker 1>Science of Human History in partnership with the Saudi Commission

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<v Speaker 1>for Tourism and National Heritage. Over one thousand, four hundred

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<v Speaker 1>rock art panels showing almost seven thousand animals, ranging from

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<v Speaker 1>lions and leopards to gazelle and wild donkeys, have been

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<v Speaker 1>found during the studies three year run, but these dogs

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<v Speaker 1>might be the most exciting find because they give us

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<v Speaker 1>clues to when and why dogs were domesticated by humans.

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<v Speaker 1>It is very difficult to date rock engravings, but the

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<v Speaker 1>research team estimated these to be around nine thousand years old,

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<v Speaker 1>making them probably the oldest depictions of human dog interactions

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<v Speaker 1>ever found. Even if they're overshooting their estimate the next

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<v Speaker 1>oldest dog art would be on some Iranian pottery that's

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<v Speaker 1>about eight thousand years old. These newly found drawings certainly

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<v Speaker 1>are the oldest depiction of a leashes. Before this find,

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<v Speaker 1>the oldest art showing restrained dogs was from a five thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>five hundred year old Egyptian wall painting. Although this rock

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<v Speaker 1>art gives us a better sense of how humans interacted

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<v Speaker 1>with dogs during this time, it's possible that dogs were

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<v Speaker 1>domesticated much earlier, possibly between fifteen thousand and thirty thousand

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<v Speaker 1>years ago, and the domestication process may have happened more

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<v Speaker 1>than once. It's not known whether the leashes in these

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<v Speaker 1>rock art panels are literal or symbolic, but it certainly

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<v Speaker 1>suggests that these Holocene hunters had a lot of control

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<v Speaker 1>over their dogs, that some dogs could have been more

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<v Speaker 1>valuable than others and therefore kept closer, and that the

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<v Speaker 1>people likely bred and trained these prehistoric pooches. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Jesslyn Shields and produced by Tristan McNeil

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<v Speaker 1>and Tyler Clang. For more in this lots of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit House to Forks dot com. Brainstuff is production of

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