Archaic Dog Burials in the Midwest United States

There are many sites within the Midwestern United States. Some of the better known sites are the Koster Site in Illinois, the Green River Valley in Kentucky, Hendricks Cave in Ohio, Indian Knolls and Dravo Gravel.

Reasons

The reasons for these burials are often discussed among Midwest Archaeologists. Some of the more well known theories for these burials are that the dogs were healers or had healing properties, the dogs were possible substitutes for humans, some even go to say that these dogs could have been adopted humans, work animals such as pack dogs or that these dogs served as a guide and judge to the deceased they were buried with. One trend that was seen during the Middle Archaic period mainly was that an individual or individuals that were buried with dogs suffered violent deaths either in war or as punishment for crimes. Another trend that was present during the Archaic, was that these dogs were not used for a food source unless in drastic times.

The Koster Site

The Koster site is a site in Illinois that has been occupied many times throughout Midwest prehistory.^[1] The first dog burials that were found at this site were dated to one of the occupations during the Early Archaic period. These dog burials were dated to 8500.^[2]^[3]

The Green River Valley

The Green River Valley had many sites that are a part of this area. Within this area, there are a total of 246 dog burials and 31 of these burials were associated with humans. 51% of the 31 burials were buried in bluff top camps, 41% were buried in shell mounds and the remaining 9% were buried in dirt mounds.

Bluegrass Site

^[4]^[5]

Indian Knolls

Dravo Gravel

References

^ Hirst, Kris. "The Koster Site-Living 9,000 Years on the Lower Illinois River". About Education. Archived from the original on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
^ Morey, Darcy F.; Wiant, Michael D. (1992). "Early Holocene Domestic Dog Burials From the North American Midwest". Current Anthropology. 33 (2): 224–229. doi:10.1086/204059. JSTOR 2743849. S2CID 144485292.
^ •Struever, Stuart and Holton, Antonelli Felicia. 1979. Koster: Americans in Search of Their Prehistoric PastAt this site, there was a total of 12 dog burials.. Garden City, NY: Anchor press/Doubleday
^ •Jones III, James and Johnson, Amy. 2003. Early Peoples of Indiana. Indianapolis, IN: Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Accessed November 27, 2016 http://www.csu.edu/cerc/documents/EarlyPeoplesofIndiana.pdf
^ Stafford, C. Russell; Richards, Ronald L.; Anslinger, C. Michael (2000). "The Bluegrass Fauna and Changes in Middle Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Foraging in the Southern Midwest". American Antiquity. 65 (2): 317–336. doi:10.2307/2694061. JSTOR 2694061. PMID 17216900.

[1] Hirst, Kris. "The Koster Site-Living 9,000 Years on the Lower Illinois River". About Education. Archived from the original on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2017-03-01.

[2] Morey, Darcy F.; Wiant, Michael D. (1992). "Early Holocene Domestic Dog Burials From the North American Midwest". Current Anthropology. 33 (2): 224–229. doi:10.1086/204059. JSTOR 2743849. S2CID 144485292.

[3] •Struever, Stuart and Holton, Antonelli Felicia. 1979. Koster: Americans in Search of Their Prehistoric PastAt this site, there was a total of 12 dog burials.. Garden City, NY: Anchor press/Doubleday

[4] •Jones III, James and Johnson, Amy. 2003. Early Peoples of Indiana. Indianapolis, IN: Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Accessed November 27, 2016 http://www.csu.edu/cerc/documents/EarlyPeoplesofIndiana.pdf

[5] Stafford, C. Russell; Richards, Ronald L.; Anslinger, C. Michael (2000). "The Bluegrass Fauna and Changes in Middle Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Foraging in the Southern Midwest". American Antiquity. 65 (2): 317–336. doi:10.2307/2694061. JSTOR 2694061. PMID 17216900.

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