The Mystery of the Wolves of Stora Karlsö: Domestication or Human Control?

Описание: The Mystery of the Wolves of Stora Karlsö: Domestication or Human Control?

On a tiny island, isolated and without native land mammals, wolf bones appeared where they should not exist. This finding, documented in the magazine PNAS, raises an intriguing question: why would someone transport wolves to a place where only one arrives by boat? With bone remains, ancient DNA and chemical analysis, an international team has reconstructed a surprising story about coexistence and human control. If you like this type of content, do not forget to subscribe and give like to our video. Thus you help us to continue creating more interesting material about scientific and archaeological discoveries. Stora Karlsö is an island of just 2.5 square kilometers in the Baltic Sea, facing the coast of Sweden. It was never linked to the continent, which means that any large terrestrial animal that appears there had to arrive by human action. During excavations in the cave of Stora Förvar, the researchers found remains of two large canids that lived between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago. The archaeological context is key to understand the finding. The cave was used for millennia as a place of human activity. There were accumulated remains of food, tools and bones of various animals, besides domestics. This fits with what is known about the human groups that used the island, who hunted seals and fished, suggesting that wolves had regular access to food of human origin. One of the wolves had an advanced bone injury that affected their mobility. In a wild environment, this would have drastically reduced their chances of hunting. The fact that the animal lived with that injury reinforces the idea of a prolonged coexistence with humans. The study suggests that wolves were not simply potential dogs. Domestication is a long and discontinuous process, and these wolves fit better into a grey area, where they lived in conditions difficult to explain without human intervention. Researchers argue that these wolves could be maintained on the island for symbolic and cultural reasons, not only utilitarian. This opens a broader perspective on the relationship between humans and wolves in prehistory, where there were short contacts and forms of coexistence that were not consolidated. At first glance, the discovery may seem limited, but in archaeology, the minimal details can alter complete accounts. This finding widens our understanding of the pre-history by showing that humans integrated in their natural environment, low-valued and living conditions and in their living conditions.