Domestic Dog Associated with Human Remains at Rancho La Brea

Abstract

Domestic dog associated with human remains at Rancho La Brea by Richard L. Reynolds. Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci., 84(2):76-85, 1985. In 1914, human remains were discovered in an asphalt deposit at Rancho La Brea, California. The skull and mandible of a small domestic dog (Canis familiaris) together with a number of shell and stone artifacts were found associated with the human skeleton and all appear to date at 9000 ± 80 years before present. Re-examination of all available data indicates this occurrence is a secondary burial (reburial) rather than a primary interment, accidental entrapment, or the concealment of a homicide victim, as previously suggested.