
These may be the first images of dogs, and they’re wearing leashes (2017) - aaronbrethorst
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/these-may-be-world-s-first-images-dogs-and-they-re-wearing-leashes
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itronitron
and the owner is carrying a plastic bag

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cptskippy
Good catch, I was wondering why they all had erections.

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DoreenMichele
It's possible that it's merely a signifier of gender.

Some comic artist was depicting realistic women -- instead of your
stereotypical comic book women with giant knockers -- and got complaints that
people couldn't tell who the women were. I think they began upsizing the bosom
as a gender signal.

From what I have read, tribal peoples who wore little clothing routinely
depicted genitals in their art as a matter of course. They weren't trying to
comply with some board that would censor it. They were just depicting the
world around them.

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cptskippy
Yes, but the penis are erect not flaccid.

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DoreenMichele
So?

Symbolic signifiers are often stylized.

Edit: I will add the leashes are the big headline grabbing detail. I'm not
seeing anyone harp on "Those can't be leashes! They are just simplified lines!
Where are the dog collars? Where are the knots?"

It's a simplified figure.

It might be more interesting or pertinent to wonder why gender was signified
at all. Does this imply some hunters were female? In a culture where _hunter =
man_ , would you bother to expend the energy to carve a penis as part of your
petroglyph?

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throwaway2048
This seems really strange, I mean Native Americans had domesticated dogs, and
as far as I'm aware the earliest migratory groups had dogs too, and that was
at least 15000 years ago.

Surely dogs that they possessed were trained and controllable? seems a strange
claim that it only dates back 8000 years.

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daveguy
Not the earliest evidence of domesticated dogs (eg dog bones with human bones
in close proximity), but the earliest known depictions of dogs (that is
generally not as durable). They're some of the earliest art of dogs and they
happen to be depicted as domesticated. As opposed to an animal that was the
subject of a hunt.

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chimen
This is great material for AA on history channel.

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333c
As in the title of the article, the title of the submission should use "may
be," not "maybe."

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dang
Fixed now.

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INTPenis
On exposed sandstone in a region with torrential rains for 8000 years? That
doesn't seem likely to me. Am I missing something?

I can't tell if they're on exposed stone or not from the pictures and video,
except for the fact that all images seem very well lit. And sometimes seem to
feature natural shadows.

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NotSammyHagar
Not much rain in some deserts. In Utah you can see lots of similar carvings
that are 1000 + years old. Those do look pretty clean though.

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INTPenis
My bad the article said seasonal rains, not torrential. We have stone carvings
in scandinavia too but I assumed sandstone was much more susceptible to
weather. If not the rain then wind and sand alone over 8000 years would wear
it out.

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wavefunction
Ancient humans probably knew this too because many examples of carvings and
paintings were made in places protected from the elements, like caves and
overhangs. They probably also decorated more exposed areas that haven't
survived as well, as you note.

Mesa Verde as one example includes such cultural works dating back to 600CE.
[https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm](https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm)

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INTPenis
>many examples of carvings and paintings were made in places protected from
the elements, like caves and overhangs

But how can we know if that was deliberate or a result of natural erosion
weeding out the covered carvings from the uncovered?

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hirundo
The hunter appears to have an erection, which is common in ancient
petroglyphs. But it would seem to be a strange reflex to be triggered when out
bow hunting with your hounds.

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gubbrora
Could it be an artistic liberty to emphasise how manly he is or something?

