Customer Reviews

Origins of the Domestic Dog: The Fossil Record

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Stan Olsen's book on the origins of the domestic dog is a seminal work on the subject. It is both readable and excellent for the lay person and the researcher alike. Though there have been advances in this subject in the last few years anyone looking for a foundation to hang the new information on and the data to understand where this subject began needs to read this book. The book is strictly about the ostiology of canids and the changes observable as 'domestication' took place.The book only periferally addresses human cultural approaches to dogs. still, its data having to do with dogs and humans entering the New World are now taken to be a breakthrough. As such, most researchers in the field still refer to this work when dealing with the subject of canid evolution. Along with Barbara Lawrence's research, Stanly Olsen's work led the way for all the research that has followed. As such, The Origin of the Domestic Dog deserves to be in the library of any serious archaeozoologist as well as anyone who is interested in how dogs ceased to be wolves and became our oldest companions.