Rediscovery of the oldest dog burial remains in Japan

Abstract

In 1962, buried dog remains, believed to be the oldest in Japan, were excavated from the Kamikuroiwa Rock Shelter. The remain were lost, however, for nearly a half century until March 2011, when what appeared to be the bones of two Jomon dogs were found at Keio University, where extensive searches had been made over many years. While there were no specific notations on the bones, the name and date of the newspaper in which they were wrapped, remains of other animals packed with the dog bones, features of the limestone debris in the wrappings, and the dating of the dog bones all confirm that these are the missing dog remains from the Kamikuroiwa Rock Shelter. This recovery of the most ancient dog burials in Japan is significant for the study of domestic dogs in this country.