The dog, long celebrated as the closest companion of humans, stands as the first species to be domesticated by people. Yet the precise moment and place of this early domestication remain debated. A new study from the University of the Basque Country adds compelling data, presenting what appears to be the oldest domesticated specimen found on the European continent, recovered from the Basque region.
In 1985, archaeologist and anthropologist Jesús Altuna led a team that uncovered nearly an intact humerus from a canid—a member of the dog-wolf family—during excavations at the Erralla cave in Zestoa, Gipuzkoa. This discovery has long been a touchstone for discussions about the origins of domestic dogs in Europe.
The Human Evolutionary Biology group at the University of the Basque Country has revisited the finding after many years. Their conclusion points to an early Paleolithic presence for the pet dog in the Basque Country, dating to roughly 17,000 years ago, which would make it the oldest canine specimen documented on the continent. While the exact nature of the relic cannot be precisely determined, the dating reinforces the idea that dogs were integrated into human life during the Magdalenian period of Europe’s Paleolithic era.
The research team, led by Professor Conchi de la Rúa, explained that morphological assessments, radiometric dating, and genetic analyses together identified the specimen as Canis lupus familiaris, i.e., a domestic dog, with an estimated age range between 17,410 and 17,096 years ago. This genetic confirmation aligns with the idea that the Erralla dog stood among the earliest domesticated canines in western Europe.
The significance is that the Erralla specimen possibly lived during the Magdalenian phase of the Paleolithic and shares a mitochondrial lineage with other Magdalenian dogs examined to date. Its origin ties back to a broader glacial context, with Europe experiencing a peak cold period around 22,000 years ago. These findings illuminate how human groups may have interacted with wild wolves during harsh climate episodes, potentially fostering early domestication in favorable microhabitats along western European refugia.
Analyses also helped exclude the possibility that the bone belonged to a dole or Asian wild dog (Cuon alpinus), reinforcing the identification as a domesticated lineage.
Some scholars propose that most modern dog lineages trace back to ancient European wolves, while others argue for a dual origin across Europe and Asia. The Erralla discovery supports the view that domestication may have occurred earlier than previously thought in Western Europe, particularly in areas where Paleolithic hunter-gatherers interacted with wild canids in glacial refugia such as the France-Cantabria corridor during climate stress events.
As the debate continues, researchers emphasize the complexity of dog origins, suggesting multiple waves and pathways of domestication across different regions. The study contributes a pivotal data point to the narrative of how and when dogs became our companions, highlighting the deep-time relationship between humans and canids in Europe.
Reference work: ScienceDirect study, dated 2022, p18-p24. (Source: ScienceDirect, 2022, S2352409X22003698)
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