5 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The Earliest Evidence of a Domesticated Dog in the Arabian Peninsula

Dogs have been the best friend of humans since ancient times. Although it is not known exactly when dogs were included in human life, it is possible to say that this history goes back every day.

A team of archaeologists from the northwestern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has uncovered the earliest evidence of dog domestication by the region’s ancient peoples.

Recent excavations by the Aerial Archeology project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (AAKSA) have found substantial skeletal material, evidence for funerary offerings, including jewelry, and the earliest chronometrically dated domestic dog in the Arabian Peninsula.

Evidence suggests that the earliest use of the tomb was around 4300 B.C. and was buried for at least 600 years in the Neolithic-Chalcolithic era – an indication that the inhabitants may have had a common memory of people, places, and the connections between them.

“What we are finding will revolutionize how we view periods like the Neolithic in the Middle East. To have that kind of memory, that people may have known for hundreds of years where their kin was buried – that’s unheard of in this period in this region,” said Melissa Kennedy, assistant director of the Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (AAKSAU) – AlUla project.

AlUla is at a point where we’re going to begin to realize how important it was to the development of mankind across the Middle East,” said the AAKSAU director, Hugh Thomas.

dog bone
The dog’s bones were dated between circa 4200 and 4000 BCE.

This is the earliest evidence of a domesticated dog in the Arabian Peninsula by a margin of circa 1,000 years.

The project team, together with Saudi Arabia and international members, focused their work on two above-ground cemeteries from the 5th to 4th centuries BC, 130 kilometers apart, one on the volcanic heights and the other on the arid wasteland.  The research team discovered these locations by using satellite images and then taking aerial photographs by helicopter. The ground field survey started at the end of 2018.

At the scene of the volcanic highlands, 26 bone fragments of a dog were found, as well as bones of 11 people-six adults, one teenager, and four children.

The dog’s bones showed signs of arthritis, suggesting that the animal lived with humans to middle age or old age.

After assembling the bones, the team then had to determine that they were from a dog and not from a similar animal such as a desert wolf. Zoo archaeologist Laura Strolin was able to show that it was indeed a dog by examining, in particular, one bone on the animal’s left front leg. The width of this bone was 21.0 mm, which corresponds to the range of other ancient Middle Eastern dogs. For comparison, the wolves of that time and place were 24.7 to 26 mm wide for the same bone.

The dog’s bones were dated between circa 4200 and 4000 BCE.

The rock art found in the area shows that the Neolithic residents used dogs and other animals when hunting ibexes.

The researchers expect more findings in the future as a result of the massive survey from the air and on the ground, and the multiple targeted excavations in the AlUla region conducted by the AAKSAU and other teams, operating under the auspices of the Royal Commission for AlUla.

The findings are published in the Journal of Field Archaeology

Related Articles

Persian-era plaster walls were discovered during excavations at Zeyve Höyük in central Turkey

2 August 2022

2 August 2022

This year’s excavations at Porsuk-Zeyve Höyük (Zeyve Mound) near the Porsuk village of the Ulukışla district of Niğde, located in...

Early Roman Aqueduct Discovered in Turkey’s Aydın Province

27 May 2021

27 May 2021

In the Kuşadasi region of western Turkey’s Aydin, archaeologists and scholars unearthed an approximately 2,000-year-old ancient Roman aqueduct. Experts believe...

An ancient Roman road has been discovered in the Venice Lagoon

24 July 2021

24 July 2021

Researchers discovered a Roman road submerged in the Venice Lagoon. The finding suggests that substantial communities may have existed in...

Archaeologists have made a shocking discovery after a re-examination of a mummified teen mom who died in childbirth

29 December 2023

29 December 2023

Archaeologists have made a shocking discovery after re-examining the mummified remains of a teen mom aged just 14-17 who died...

Portugal’s Enigmatic Roman Building “Tower of Centum Cellas”

4 February 2024

4 February 2024

The Tower of Centum Cellas (also known as the “Tower of St. Cornelius”), located in the Mount of Santo Antão...

9,300-year-old Gre Filla Mound in southeastern Turkey to be relocated

20 September 2022

20 September 2022

While public criticism continues due to the fact that Gre Filla, known as Diyarbakır’s Göbeklitepe, is under the dam, Diyarbakır...

An unknown church with a special floor plan discovered in Erwitte, northwestern Germany

18 September 2023

18 September 2023

Archaeologists from the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) have discovered the remains of a former church from the 10th century near...

Artvin Demirkapı/Arılı rock paintings give information about Anatolian Bronze Age Nomadic

14 December 2021

14 December 2021

Rock paintings are material cultural assets that provide us with unique information about the socio-cultural structure, religious beliefs, and rituals,...

A rare Ogham inscription found on Pictish stone in Scottish Kirkyard

8 November 2022

8 November 2022

A Pictish carved stone cross slab with a rare inscription in the early medieval ogham language has been discovered in...

Archaeologists explore Eastern Zhou Dynasty mausoleum in China’s Henan

30 January 2022

30 January 2022

An archaeological survey of a royal mausoleum of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 B.C.-256 B.C.) has been launched in central...

Refurbishment at the Uffizi Gallery Revealed a Pair of Priceless Lost Renaissance Frescoes

24 April 2021

24 April 2021

A couple of construction workers discovered two Renaissance-era treasures while working on an extensive renovation project at Florence’s world-famous Uffizi...

“Nikasitimos Was Here Mounting Timiona,” 2,500-year-old erotic graffiti on Astypalaia, Greece

7 April 2024

7 April 2024

In 2014, an archaeologist working on Astypalaia, a remote Greek island of the Dodecanese discovered one of the world’s oldest...

1500-year-old Elite tombs were discovered vicinity of the ancient seaport of Berenice Troglodytica in Egypt

22 May 2022

22 May 2022

Polish archaeologists have discovered a tomb complex near the ancient port of Berenice Troglodytica in Egypt. Archaeologists from the University...

A new study provides the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating to as early as 10,000 years ago

8 December 2022

8 December 2022

A new study of stone tools from southern China reveals the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating back 10,000 years....

10 Ancient Shipwrecks and Finds from Prehistoric to Ottoman Periods Discovered οff Kasos Island in Greece

14 March 2024

14 March 2024

The research team of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, has identified ten shipwrecks...