Our Oldest Companions: The Story of the First Dogs

Pat Shipman, a renowned anthropologist, explores the mysterious origins of the unique partnership between humans and dogs, tracing the trail of the wolf-dog, the dingo, and how dogs have changed physically, behaviorally, and emotionally. She argues that we cannot understand our own species without recognizing the central role dogs have played in making us who we are.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 10 October 2023
Publisher: Harvard University Press

Dogs and humans have been inseparable for more than 40,000 years, and their unique partnership has rewritten the history of both species. A celebrated anthropologist, Pat Shipman, is on a mission to uncover the mysterious origins of the first dogs. She follows the trail of the wolf-dog, a hybrid of prehistoric wolf and modern dog, whose bones offer tantalizing clues about the earliest stages of domestication. Shipman also considers the enigma of the dingo, which is not quite domesticated yet not entirely wild, and reveals how scientists are shedding new light on the origins of the unique relationship between man and dog.

Through her brilliant work of historical reconstruction, Our Oldest Companions, Shipman shows that we cannot hope to understand our own species without recognizing the central role dogs have played in making us who we are. Dogs have changed physically, behaviorally, and emotionally, but we have been transformed, too. The partnership between humans and dogs is a testament to the power of companionship and the resilience of both species.

Dimension: 210 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780674293946