
First Dogs
Hunter-Gatherers and Their Canine Companions from Prehistory to the Present
Peter Mitchell(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 17. August 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
338 pages
978-1-032-82655-4 (ISBN)
Description
First Dogs provides the first comprehensive overview of the relationships between humanity's best friend (and oldest domestic animal) and hunter-gatherers.
The book uses archaeological and anthropological evidence to explore the hunter-gatherer/canine relationship from the beginnings of the domestication process to the present. As well as looking at conventional case studies from the Global North, it also uses examples from Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The result is an understanding of how hunter-gatherers have lived with dogs that is novel in its thematic reach, its temporal span, and its global range. Having situated previous work on dogs and hunter-gatherers within the broader fields of archaeology and anthropology, the book first explores how, when, and where grey wolves became dogs before tracing their dispersal beyond Eurasia into North America, the tropics, and beyond. Four thematic chapters then consider their roles as hunting aids and transport technologies, as well as how they have been fed, cared for, and thought about by hunter-gatherer populations worldwide. A further chapter explores the canine dimension of European colonialism's impacts on Indigenous peoples since 1492. The emphasis throughout is strongly interdisciplinary, drawing not only on archaeology and anthropology, but also on work in genetics, history, ecology, and linguistics.
First Dogs offers an up-to-date account of all aspects of the relationship between hunter-gatherers and their canine companions aimed at academic and nonacademic audiences alike.
The book uses archaeological and anthropological evidence to explore the hunter-gatherer/canine relationship from the beginnings of the domestication process to the present. As well as looking at conventional case studies from the Global North, it also uses examples from Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The result is an understanding of how hunter-gatherers have lived with dogs that is novel in its thematic reach, its temporal span, and its global range. Having situated previous work on dogs and hunter-gatherers within the broader fields of archaeology and anthropology, the book first explores how, when, and where grey wolves became dogs before tracing their dispersal beyond Eurasia into North America, the tropics, and beyond. Four thematic chapters then consider their roles as hunting aids and transport technologies, as well as how they have been fed, cared for, and thought about by hunter-gatherer populations worldwide. A further chapter explores the canine dimension of European colonialism's impacts on Indigenous peoples since 1492. The emphasis throughout is strongly interdisciplinary, drawing not only on archaeology and anthropology, but also on work in genetics, history, ecology, and linguistics.
First Dogs offers an up-to-date account of all aspects of the relationship between hunter-gatherers and their canine companions aimed at academic and nonacademic audiences alike.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced
Illustrations
143 Farbfotos bzw. farbige Rasterbilder, 14 s/w Tabellen, 143 farbige Abbildungen
14 Tables, black and white; 143 Halftones, color; 143 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-032-82655-4 (9781032826554)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Peter Mitchell
First Dogs
Hunter-Gatherers and Their Canine Companions from Prehistory to the Present
Book
approx. 08/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€191.50
Not yet published
Peter Mitchell
First Dogs
Hunter-Gatherers and Their Canine Companions from Prehistory to the Present
E-Book
approx. 08/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€54.99
Not yet available
Peter Mitchell
First Dogs
Hunter-Gatherers and Their Canine Companions from Prehistory to the Present
E-Book
approx. 08/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€54.99
Not yet available
Person
Peter Mitchell studied Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge and obtained his doctorate from Oxford in 1987. After teaching in Cape Town and Wales, he returned to Oxford in 1995 where he is Professor of African Archaeology and Tutor and Fellow in Archaeology at St Hugh's College. Along with a longstanding interest in the prehistory of southern African hunter-gatherers (which has involved extensive fieldwork in Lesotho) and Africa's past more generally, he has written extensively on the archaeologies of dogs, donkeys, and horses. He is a past President of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists and co-editor of the journal Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa.
Content
List of Figures; List of Tables; Acknowledgements; 1. Why Dogs? Why Hunter-Gatherers?; 2. Beginnings; 3. Expanding; 4. Hunting; 5. Moving; 6. Living; 7. Thinking; 8. Contending; 9. Hunter-Gatherers and Their Dogs; References; Additional Acknowledgements; Index.