Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5112126 | Journal of Archaeological Science | 2017 | 19 Pages |
Abstract
Four isolated canid skulls from four sites (Badyarikha River, Tirekhtyakh River, Ulakhan Sular, Malyi Lyakhovsky Island) in the Sakha Republic of northern Siberia are here described. Three specimens date from the Pleistocene and range in age from more than 50,000 years to about 17,200 years old, the fourth specimen is about 950 years old. The Yakutian canid skulls are compared with Palaeolithic dogs, recent Northern dogs, Pleistocene wolves and recent Northern wolves by multivariate analyses of standardised cranial measurements in order to determine with which reference group they have the closest affinity. These analyses permitted to identify the Tirekhtyakh River specimen as a Pleistocene wolf. The Ulakhan Sular specimen resembles the Palaeolithic dogs and the Malyi Lyakhvosky specimen the recent Northern dogs. The Badyarikha River skull falls in between groups. The archaeological implications of the presence of ancient canid specimens resembling Palaeolithic and early dogs in arctic northeast Asia are discussed.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Materials Science
Materials Science (General)
Authors
Mietje Germonpré, Sergey Fedorov, Petr Danilov, Patrik Galeta, Elodie-Laure Jimenez, Mikhail Sablin, Robert J. Losey,