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The Role of Socialisation in the Taming and Management of Wild Dingoes by Australian Aboriginal People

Brumm, Adam, Koungoulos, Loukas·2022·Animals
DOI 10.3390/ani12172285PMC PMC9454437
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Abstract

Historical sources and Indigenous oral traditions indicate that Australian Aboriginal people commonly reared and kept the wild-caught pups of dingoes (C. dingo) as tamed companion animals. A review of the available evidence suggests Indigenous communities employed an intense socialisation process that forged close personal bonds between humans and their tame dingoes from an early age. This was complemented by oral traditions which passed down awareness of the dangers to children posed by wild or unfamiliar dingoes, and which communicated the importance of treating dingoes with respect. Together, these practices resulted in what can be interpreted as substantially altered behaviours in tamed dingoes, which, despite their naturally high prey drive, were not considered a serious threat to children and were thus able to be maintained as companion animals in the long term. This relationship is of importance for understanding the original domestication of the dog, as it demonstrates a means by which careful and deliberate socialisation by foragers could both manage risks to children’s safety posed by keeping wild canids in the domestic realm and retain them well into reproductive maturity—both issues which have been highlighted as obstacles to the domestication of dogs from wolves.

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  • Current research emphasizes the social nature of dog domestication, with animals valued for companionship and personal connection as much as any functional contribution to the campsite.

    “Current research, in contrast, emphasizes the social nature of dog domestication, with animals valued for their companionship and personal connection as much as any functional contribution to the campsite (see, for example, the dingo in Australian Aboriginal communities: Brumm and Koungoulos, 2022;Koungoulos, 2021).”

    From Archaeology in 2022: Counter‐myths for hopeful futures (2024) · cites this paper as Brumm and Koungoulos, 2022

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Metadata

Authors
Brumm, A., & Koungoulos, L.
Affiliations
  • Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia
  • School of Humanities, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Venue
Animals
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2022-09-03
Volume
12
Issue
17
Pages
2285
ISSN
2076-2615
DOI
10.3390/ani12172285
PMC
PMC9454437
Cited by
8
References
0
Language
en
Licence
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor)

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