Dogs
DOGS. Recent archaeological discoveries place the domestication of the dog thousands if not tens of thousands of years prior to that of any of the other animals with which humanity has shared its cultural evolution. This shared heritage is reflected in the ritual, mythology, and religious doctrine of nearly every human society. The ancient Phoenicians, Chinese, Meso-Americans, and Egyptians buried, entombed, or mummified dogs, separately or together with their human masters; archaic astronomical systems from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America identify star clusters or planets with supernatural dogs; and dogs figure prominently in a wide variety of myths and rituals, particularly those concerned with death and afterlife.
The place of Canis familiaris in religious traditions closely corresponds to the social roles, behaviors, and spatial orientations of dogs in relationship to humans, as protectors of the home, in hunting, and in herding. In every case, the dog is located at a problematic boundary between "us"—the living members of a human community—and "them": the dead, wild animals, interlopers, and human enemies of that community. As a watchdog, it prowls the zone of demarcation between within and without, inhabited space and outside world. As a herding animal, it constitutes a moving periphery, enclosing the herd that it guards from savage predators and human rustlers, but also culling animals that have been designated for slaughter.
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