Documenting Introductions: The Earliest Evidence for the Presence of Dog (Canis familiaris Linnaeus 1758) in the Prehistory of the Balearic Islands

ABSTRACT

We emphasize the importance of adopting a restrictive reading of the validity and reliability of the faunal record with respect to past animal introductions. As a case study, we analyze the earliest evidence for dogs in the early prehistory of the Balearic Islands. This research is based on direct AMS ¹⁴C dates from selected dog bones obtained in archaeological contexts. These dates, together with a conservative interpretation of the archaeological evidence, allow us to document the historical biogeography of dogs in Balearic prehistory. On Mallorca, the earliest evidence for the presence of dogs falls ca. 2000 cal BC. In contrast, on Menorca and the Pityusic Islands, their presence in the early prehistory (i.e., prior to 2000 cal BC) remains to be demonstrated. These data illustrate the importance of direct AMS ¹⁴C dating of animal bones and careful analysis of archaeological context to document the chronology of animal introductions on islands and beyond.

Keywords:

• biogeography
• faunal introduction
• Mallorca
• Menorca
• Western Mediterranean
• zooarcheology

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors thank Dr. Lluís Plantalamor Massanet, director of the Museu de Menorca and co-director of Biniai Nou Excavation Project, for his guidance and support, and Dr. José Luis Gómez-Pérez, from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, for the delivery of the materials from Biniai Nou. We thank four anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on an earlier version of the article, and Hannah Bonner (Palma de Mallorca-New York) for her linguistic improvements. Finally, we thank Dr. T. C. Rick and Dr. Scott M. Fitzpatrick for their editing work that greatly improved the article. This research is included in the Research Project “Cambios Holocénicos en la Biodiversidad Animal de las Islas de la Macaronesia y de Baleares” (CGL2012–38087) of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. One of the authors (A.V.) is supported by a JAE-Predoc scholarship.