What We Have Lost: Domestic Dogs of the Ancient South Pacific
Carys Louisa Williams
Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London, NW1 4RY, United Kingdom.
Silvia Michela Mazzola *
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Giulio Curone
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Giovanni Quintavalle Pastorino
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy and Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, United Kingdom.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In the thousands of years that followed dog domestication, wherever humans went, dogs surely followed. However, the tale of the dog in the ancient South Pacific is often an overlooked one. A small, bandy-legged dog, seemingly not much use for anything but food, this canine could easily be overshadowed in history by more accomplished breeds; the sled dogs of Siberia, the sight hounds of the Middle East, the herders and guarders of Europe, or the practical retrievers of North America. In actuality, tracing the journey of this domesticate could help us to work towards an answer in the mystery of the origin of the first South Pacific colonists. Through discussing the journey and presence of the domestic dog following one of the last great feats of human migration, valuable insight can be gained surrounding one of the longest-standing human-animal relationships. Over time, the closeness of man and dog in the South Pacific persisted, entrenched in folklore and material culture, with this landrace of dog only facing an untimely demise when it was usurped and genetically diluted by European breeds.
Keywords: Dog, Canis lupus, Polynesia, South Pacific, human-animal relationship, anthrozoology