ANIMALS IN ROCK ART - DOGS IN THE SOUTHWEST:

Black and white dogs, Fremont culture, Brown's Park, CO, Photo Peter Faris, 1987.

Many domesticated animals have variegated colors and patterns not displayed by their original wild ancestors. This is thought to have originally arisen accidentally while traits like tameness were being sought, but once patterns occurred they also became desired traits. My interest in how dogs are portrayed in rock art was sparked back in the 1980s by a Fremont pictograph in Brown’s Park, northwest Colorado, which shows two canines with black and white patterning, in other words their coats indicated domesticated dogs, not coyote or wolf.

“Dog remains in early Southwestern sites suggest that dogs played many roles in both life and death. Dogs - either whole or in part - were buried, occasionally with humans. This treatment may mean they were pets; hunting companions, or ritual offerings. Isolated bones, discarded in trash areas, some burned or with cutmarks, suggested that some dogs were eaten by prehistoric peoples. Dog bones were sometimes made into awls and other tools, and perforated dog teeth were used as pendants.” (Taylor, et al. 2008:3)

“The list of functions that dogs served in Pueblo villages presents an interesting dichotomy. They tended to be viewed simultaneously as superior animals and inferior humans. Dogs acted as guardians, hunting companions, bed warmers, field protectors, and probably, on occasion, ritual guardians for shamans. They also ate leftover food in cooking areas and cleaned up the latrines. Clearly dogs played an important role in controlling disease.” (Taylor, et al. 2008:4)

Mummified small black and white dog, White Dog Cave, Arizona, Archaeology, Vol. 63, No.  5, Sept.-Oct. 2010.

The importance of dogs to some ancient peoples of the American Southwest is illustrated by the cases of dogs found buried with people as offerings or to accompany them to the afterlife. “Some of the best examples of associated dog burials from the Southwest were discovered at White Dog Cave by Guernsey and Kidder (1921) in a Basketmaker II period cave near Kayenta, Arizona. Cist 23 contained a woman wrapped in furs inside two joined woven bags buried with a high number of exceptional grave goods including baskets, grass and squash seeds, digging sticks, pinon nuts, an atlatl, and a  chipped piece of quartzite. When the baskets covering the body were removed, it was revealed that a small, black and white terrier-sized dog was interred by her left side. Within the same feature was an adult male buried in a similar manner with a larger white and tan, long-haired dog approximately the size of a collie (Guernsey and Kiddr 1921). The remains had been naturally mummified due to the sandy burial location in a high and windy cave, causing desiccation but protecting them from the typical environmental forces that decay soft tissues. Later radiographic analysis by Fugate (2010:93-4) showed the larger dog was male - and approximately 1.5 years old. The smaller dog was female and estimated to be eight months old (Fugate 2010).” (Semanko 2020:24) I am particularly interested in the black and white dog because of examples found in rock art.

Barrier Canyon Archaic culture. Temple Mountain Wash, Emory County, UT. Photo Peter Faris, October 2002.

Barrier Canyon Archaic culture. Horseshoe Canyon, Canyonlands, Wayne County, UT, Photo Don I. Campbell, 16 May 1984.

Barrier Canyon Archaic culture.  Photo James Doss.

The Archaic people of Utah and northwestern Colorado who we know as Barrier Canyon, dating from between as early as possibly 7,000 BCE to the early centuries AD, frequently include dogs in their rock art. While we cannot be sure that some are not coyotes or wolves, one example from Temple Mountain Wash in Emory County, Utah, shows a black and white dog accompanying a group of people.

Another pictograph, this one from Brown’s Park, in northwestern Colorado, shows two black and white dogs (top of page). This panel is attributed to the Fremont culture by association with typical Fremont rock art all around it. In that area the Fremont culture is usually dated from A.D. 200 to about A.D. 1300. Remember that varicolored coat patterns are usually assumed to also indicate a domesticated animal. I like to think that at this place and time a Fremont artist placed a record of his favorite dogs.

Rock Art in a caveate, Mortendad canyon, NM, Photo Peter Faris, 2003.

An interesting pair of quadrupeds that possess the characteristics of dog images are found inscribed through the smoke-blackened wall of a caveate in Mortandad Canyon, Santa Fe County, New Mexico. These are of Pueblo III provenance (1150 to 1360 CE) or possibly early Pueblo IV (1350 - 1600 CE). They are shown as having spotted coats, but their relatively short tails, lack of claws, and lack of triangular ears suggest dog, not spotted feline. 

Petroglyph Park, Albuquerque, Bernal County, New Mexico. Photo Peter Faris, September 1988.

This petroglyph is found in Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The images here were created predominately by Pueblo III (1150 to 1360 CE) or possibly early Pueblo IV (1350 - 1600 CE) peoples.Dogs had a major role in mythology. Polly Schaafsma’s description of this particular dog petroglyph ties it to its spiritual role. “As previously noted, in Mesoamerica the inherent morning star/evening star duality of Venus is also expressed via Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli and Zolotl, respectively. Xolotl, a denizen of the underworld whose name translates as “twin,” god of double things, is the god of the ball game and has the form of a dog, lightning, and celestial fire. This dog-headed aspect of Quetzalcoatl sacrificed the gods themselves to nourish the newly created fifth sun, an act related to the creation of the present world. In other versions, Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl replaces Zolotl as executioner. In Pueblo rock art canines pictured with paired stars or with star-faced serpents may be Southwestern statements of the canine aspect of this symbolic complex. The dog with a lightning tail beside a star-faced snake in a petroglyph near Albuquerque, New Mexico, is particularly suggestive. The role of Zolotl, the lightning dog, in the emergence has been compared with that of the Zuni War Twins, who in certain emergence accounts bring humankind out of the underworld by penetrating the earth with lightning arrows..” (Schaafsma 2001:147) 

In some cultures the dog is a trickster, in others a protector, but universally the contributions of the dog to humans was known and respected. As a friend, protector, helpmate and resource to the First Nations people, these dogs earned their place in the rock art record, and we are the richer for it.

NOTE: For further information on this subject refer to the References listed below. Some photographs in this paper were found on the internet in searches for public domain material. If they are not intended to be public domain I apologize and will be happy to provide citation information if it is provided.

REFERENCE:

Schaafsma, Polly

2001 Quetzalcoatl and the Horned and Feathered Serpent of the Southwest, pages 138 – 149, in The Road To Aztlan: Art From A Mythic Homeland, edited by Fields, Virginia M., and Victor Zamudio-Taylor, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.

Semanko, Amanda Leigh, B.S.

2020 Prehistoric Southwest Dogs: A Case Study From Kipp Ruin, May 2020, M.S. thesis, Anthropology Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Taylor, Tobi, Alan Ferg, and Dody Fugate,

2008 Dogs in the Southwest, Archaeology Southwest, Vol. 22 No. 3, Center for Desert Archaeology, Tucson.

SECONDARY REFERENCE:

Fugate, Dody

2010 Pueblo Dogs: The Oldest Companions, in Threads, Tints, and Edification: Papers in Honor of Glenna Dean, edited by Emily J. Brown, Karen Armstrong, David M. Brugge, and Carol J. Condie, pp. 91-100, Archaeological Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

8,000-YEAR-OLD DOG PETROGLYPHS IN SAUDI ARABIA:

Rock art panel, Saudi Arabia.

Jeddah blog, public domain.

Hundreds of images of domesticated dogs have been found in rock art of the Arabian peninsula at the Shuwaymis and Jubbah sites in northwestern Saudia Arabia. "While documenting thousands of rock-art panels there, Maria Guagnin, an archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, counted 156 dogs at Shuwaymis and 193 at Jubbah." (Gannon 2017)

Shuwaymis rock art,

public domain.

"Etched into the rock walls of dried-out valleys and slopes in the Arabian peninsula, the 8,000-year-old hunting scenes even feature some dogs on leashes. Those images - the oldest archaeological evidence of dog leashes - suggest humans were controlling and training dogs even before they settled down into farming communities." (Gannon 2017) These dog petroglyphs, which may be the oldest dog images known in rock art, are beautifully done, with graceful lines. They suggest an appreciation of, even affection for, the subject.

Rock art and Canaan dog.

ancientorigins.net,

public domain.

The canines portrayed look similar to the modern breed of Canaan dogs with "pricked ears, short snouts, and curled tails - and they look distinct from the hyenas and wolves depicted elsewhere in the rock-art panels." (Gannon 2017) In other words, they seem to be domesticated dogs, not wild canids.

Shuwaymis rock art panel, Saudi

Arabia, ancientorigins.net,

public domain.

"The team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute report that the panels they found on the Arabian Peninsula are between 8,000 and 9,000 years old, which might make them the oldest dog images on record. That title currently  belongs to painted pottery from southwestern Iran that's also about 8,000 years old, so which is unequivocally the oldest is not yet clear." (Sloat 2017) It illustrates that man's best friend may also be his oldest, and documents a relationship between canine and human.

ancientorigins.net, public domain.

"The archaeological record shows the first undisputed dog remains buried beside humans 14,700 years ago, with disputed remains occurring 36,000 years ago - The dog was the first species to be domesticated." (Wikipedia) So, while these images are not the earliest evidence of domesticated dogs, they may well be the first images of domesticated dogs - until older ones are found.

NOTE: Images in this posting were retrieved from the internet after a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the originals at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Gannon, Megan

2017 8,000-Year-Old Rock Art Includes the World's Oldest Images of Dogs, Live Science, November 20, 2017, https:/www.livescience.com/60982-oldest-images-of-dogs-on-leashes.html?utm_siyrce=ls-newsletter&utm_medium=enauk&ytn_campoign=20171120-ls

https://ancientorigins.net

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog

Sloat, Sarah

2017 Earliest Known Images of Dogs Reveal Origins of Their Bond With Humans, November 17, 2017, https://www.yahoo.com/news/earliest-known-images-dogs-reveal-185200248.html

DOGS IN ROCK ART:

Depictions of domestic dogs in rock art are found fairly common. Domesticated dogs can often be identified by the patterns of their coats. While the large wild canines of North America, the wolf and the coyote, tend to have a fur coat that is darker above and lighter beneath with a fairly even graduation between them on the sides, domesticated dogs can have broken, blotchy coat coloration.

Horseshoe Canyon, Canyonlands, Wayne County, UT.

Photograph:  Don I. Campbell, 16 May 1984.

Barrier Canyon style dog portrayals often seem to show them accompanying humans. This probable dog photo (above) is from Horseshoe Canyon in Utah.

Temple Mountain Wash, Utah.

Photograph: Peter Faris, 2002.

A Barrier Canyon style pictograph panel at Temple Mountain Wash, Utah (above), shows a group of figures accompanied by one dog (and perhaps a second one behind him).

Bi-colored domestic dogs, Brown's Park, Colorado.

Photograph: Peter Faris, 1987.

One unusual panel is found on a ranch in Brown’s Park Colorado which shows two domestic dogs alone, not as part of a scene of hunting or other activity. They can be recognized as domestic dogs by their coloration patterns.

Spotted dogs in a cavate, Mortandad canyon, NM.

Photograph: Peter Faris, 2003.

Another possible pair of dogs is found incised into the smoke blackened wall of a cavate room at the Mortandad ruin in New Mexico. This pair of quadrupeds has long straight tails but do not have claws on their feet so they were not likely meant to represent mountain lions and without horns, antlers, hoofs, or other identifiable traits from other animals they may well be intended to represent canines. Importantly they are shown covered with spots so if they are canines they must represent domesticated dogs. Their association with horned serpents suggests that they are involved in some myth or story of spiritual significance.

Dog petroglyphs, Nuuanu, Oahu, Hawaii. 

Photograph: Peter Faris, October 23, 2010.

This example of a Hawaiian dog petroglyph is from the Nu’uanu valley, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.  I presented this in a column on December 29, 2010, entitled The Nu’anu Petroglyphs, Oahu, and discussed some of the myths and legends surrounding this site.  

 Dog petroglyph, the Big Island, Hawaii. 

Photograph: Ellen Belef, September 10, 2012. 

Another dog petroglyph from the Big Island, Hawaii, photographed on 10 Sept. 2012, has been provided by Ellen Belef. Unfortunately this one shows signs of having been touched up by parties unknown with a straight edged metal chisel.

What examples of petroglyphs of dogs do you know of?

THE NU’UANU PETROGLYPHS, OAHU:

On October 23, 2010, we were given a tour of the Honolulu area by my cousin Rob and one of the sites that we located was the Nu’uanu petroglyphs. They are located in Nu’uanu valley which is where the deciding battle of King Kamehaha I’s drive to conquer Oahu and thus unify the Hawaiian islands occurred in 1795.

Nu'uannu Stream, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. Photo: Peter Faris, Oct. 23, 2010.

According to Wikipedia the battle “is known in the Hawaiian language as Kalelekaʻanae, which means "the leaping mullet", and refers to a number of Oahu warriors driven off the cliff in the final phase of the battle. Kamehameha I had begun his campaign to unify Hawaii in 1783, but prior to 1795 had only managed to unify the Big Island. In February 1795 he assembled the largest army the Hawaiian Islands had ever seen, with about 12,000 men and 1,200 war canoes. Kamehameha initially moved against the southern islands of Maui and Molokai, conquering them in the early spring. Then he invaded Oahu”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nu'uanu)

Nu'uannu petroglyphs, dogs and human figures. Honolulu,

Oahu, Hawaii. Photo: Peter Faris, Oct. 23, 1020.

Kamehameha I prevailed and at the climax of the battle, caught between the Hawaiian Army and a 1000-foot drop, “over 400 Oahu warriors either jumped or were pushed over the edge of the Pali” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nu'uanu) - the leaping mullet. This had been the last major challenge to Kamehaha I and afterword the combined islands were known as the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Dog petroglyphs, Nu'uannu, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii.

The Nu’uanu petroglyphs consist of three sites along the Nu’uanu stream behind the Nu’uanu Memorial Park Cemetery and the Royal Mausoleum, near Alapena pool. They have a total of as many as forty carved images mostly human figures and dogs. The number of dog images is somewhat surprising as there are no wild canids on the Hawaiian Islands to commemorate, so they have to be representations of the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris).

While the meaning of these dog images is not known for sure there are a number of possibilities in mythology listed in Traditions of O’ahu: Dog Gods of the Ko'olau Mountains. A number of the tales involve a supernatural dog named Poki. Seeing Poki was an ill omen and a traveler who saw the dog would be wise to return home to avoid disaster. In other tales Poki was the pet of an evil spirit living in the mountains.

Nu'uannu petroglyphs, dogs and human figures. Honolulu,

Oahu, Hawaii. Photo: Peter Faris, Oct. 23, 1020.

There is another interesting myth involving a dog. In this myth Kane, the chief god of the Hawaiian pantheon used to party with his companions at night in the mountains over Wai-pi’o valley and each drink of awa (the intoxicating drink known as kava in the Pacific islands ) was accompanied by a blast on their conch shell horns (pu). Kane’s horn, the famed kiha-pu, was of divine origin and possessed supernatural power, as well as being louder than any other. These loud sessions disrupted the whole countryside and kept the inhabitants awake all night. To deal with these disruptions King Liloa sent a dog named Puapualenalena to steal Kiha-pu, which subsequently became a prized possession of Hawaiian monarchs. (http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/ulh/ulh22.htm) This Kiha-pu can be seen on display at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.

One myth directly related to the Nu’uannu petroglyphs claims that they portray a mythical dog named Kaupe who had once been a human who had ruled Nu’uanu valley. During his reign he ate a lot of people and later Kaupe became a malevolent spirit in dog form that calls out to people at night to lure them to their deaths. (Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaupe)
Whichever story we choose to believe this concentration of dog petroglyphs seems totally unique and is off the beaten path so it may not be visited as regularly as more publicized sites.

References:

Traditions of O’ahu: Dog Gods of the Ko'olau Mountains, Asia-Pacific Digital Library, Kapi’olani Community College, (http://apdl.kcc.hawaii.edu/~oahu/stories/kona/doggods.htm).

Wikipedia