Friend or foe? Large canid remains from Pavlovian sites and their archaeozoological context

In this paper we discuss recent claims that dogs were first domesticated from wild wolves in the Middle Upper Paleolithic (MUP), about 27 ka BP. According to our data, we think the presence of large canids at the Pavlovian/MUP sites is a result of hunting specialization and not a sign of an early process of dog domestication. Our interpretation is supported by the following observations, whose implications we discuss: (1) Pavlovian faunal...