The Allerum Dog, an 8,000-year-old canine skeleton unearthed in 1918 in Allerum Bog near Helsingborg, Sweden, offers insights into the role of dogs in Mesolithic hunting societies. The skeleton, studied by osteologist Elisabeth Iregren and archaeologist Kristina Jennbert from Lund University, reveals a flint-edged bone arrowhead lodged between its ribs, suggesting the dog was struck during a human-led hunt, later dying by a lakeshore and sinking into the bog. Iregren’s 1993 study in Archaeofauna highlights the dog’s traits: an agile, wolf-like build with erect ears, a defined skull stop, strong shoulders, and a sturdy femur, adapted for hunting. Its fur,…
