Abstract

The domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) has inhabited human environments for at least 15,000 years and play a central role in many Arctic cultures, where they facilitate transportation and the acquisition of resources. Until recently, however, the lives and management of dogs in the archaeological past has received little attention from researchers despite the significant impact the keeping of dogs would have had on the subsistence strategies of past Arctic cultures. With recent advances in biomolecular archaeology, the possibility of exploring complex substrates, such as dental calculus and palaeofaeces, has emerged. Palaeofaeces in particular has the potential to provide unique, holistic insight into the host individual, its diet and health. In this talk I present the first successful recovery of ancient proteins from palaeofaeces and show that it is possible to recover gastrointestinal proteomes as well as information about the tissues consumed by the host individual. I further demonstrate that proteins can be a viable tool for obtaining novel information about subsistence practices from Arctic contexts and can provide unique insight for short-term dietary reconstruction.

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