Overview
- Peer‑reviewed studies in Nature used whole‑genome data from ancient bones to confirm dogs lived with humans across Europe and western Asia at least 14,000 years ago, pushing the genetic record back more than 5,000 years.
- A 14,300‑year‑old jaw from Gough’s Cave in the UK is the earliest genetically confirmed dog in the region.
- Isotope tests at Pınarbaşı in Türkiye show dogs ate fish‑heavy diets that matched local people, pointing to active feeding by humans.
- Finds from Germany, Italy, and Switzerland show a wide Ice Age spread with early ancestry differences that range from Somerset to Siberia.
- The work ties these early lineages to modern European and Middle Eastern dogs yet leaves the geographic origin of domestication unresolved.