Burial of Dingo Companion Animal Examined in Australia

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—Mirage News reports that researchers including dingo expert Loukas Koungoulos, zooarchaeologist Rebecca Jones, and archaeological geologist Sam Player examined a dingo burial in southeastern Australia at the request of the Menindee Aboriginal Elders Council. The burial, which had been placed in a midden, was found eroding out of a riverbank in the Menindee Lakes area of New South Wales. Indigenous people were also often buried in middens, the researchers explained, possibly as a way to connect them to their ancestors. After a ceremony conducted by Barb Quayle of the Menindee Aboriginal Elders Council, the dingo bones were removed from the midden. Koungoulos and Jones said that the condition of the male dingo’s teeth suggests the animal had been an adult for several years before its death. Decay at the end of its long bones indicates that it may have suffered from arthritis or perhaps another long-term illness. One rib also showed signs of a healed fracture. The study also revealed that this dingo was smaller than modern wild dingoes. DNA analysis may help researchers determine how this animal is related to other dingos. The species is most closely related to the New Guinea singing dog, and is thought to have been brought to Australia some 3,500 years ago by people who traveled by boat. The remains will be reburied. To read about Aboriginal rock art in Arnhem Land that depicts animals and human figures, go to “Letter from Australia: Where the World Was Born.”