A new study suggests that European dogs doubled in size from 8000 to 2000 years ago. The beefing up may have helped protect sheep from bears.
Robert Losey was not involved with the work but it is important research.
Between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago dogs were domesticated. Little is known about the size and roles of the pups that came from gray wolves. Scientists think ancient dogs may have helped humans pull sleds.
Martin Welker, a zooarchaeology curator at the Arizona State Museum, and his colleagues examined the remains of 14 dogs uncovered from ancient human settlements in Croatia. Some of the ancient dogs have data from Croatia and other countries. The remains were dated from 8000 years ago in the Neolithic to 2000 years ago in the Roman period.
The first Neolithic farmers brought a new breed of dog with them from the Middle East and Anatolia. The scientists found that these new animals were roughly the size of a border collie.
The average mass increased to 17 kilograms by the Bronze Age. The weight of the average dog jumped to 24 kilograms by the Roman times, according to the team in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
According to historical documents, even bigger dogs at the time, reaching at least 32 kilograms, nearly the weight of today's great Pyrenees dogs.
As ancient dogs got bigger, the researchers saw an evolution in responsibilities as Great Pyrenees were still used to guard European livestock.
The analysis of the teeth of Neolithic sheep suggests that they grazed higher in the mountains, exposing them to larger risk from wolves and bears.
The Romans may have been the first to breed lapdogs, according to depictions on murals and other evidence.
An expert on ancient dogs with a private archaeology firm says that this study is exciting because they know less about what happened when people began farming. Perri was not involved in the study.
She says that guard dogs are key to that story, and they had staying power.
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