9,000 Years Ago, North Americans Tamed--and Ate--Dogs

To a human living in North America about 9,400 years ago, dogs may have been both trusted friends and loyal protectors. But they were something else too: dinner. A DNA analysis of an ancient dog's recovered bone fragment reveal that dogs were already domesticated at this stage in North American history, and the fact that the bone bore evidence of passing through the human digestive tract reveals that our ancestors were willing to chow down on their canine companions. The bone was recovered in ancient human fecal matter found in a southwestern Texas cave in the 1970s--but it wasn't until recently that Samuel Belknap III, a University of Maine anthropology graduate student, found a bone within the ancient poo. The discovery was all the more welcome given that he wasn't looking for dog bones in the first place.