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The Free-Spirited And Untamed Fox—Maybe Not Quite As Much

Schwadevivre

Antitheist
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Dec 13, 2014
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Near Skinners Bottom
Foxes were domesticated by humans in the Bronze Age
... snip
The discovery of four foxes and a large number of dogs at the Can Roqueta (Barcelona) and Minferri (Lleida) sites stands out among the many examples of tombs in different parts of the north-eastern peninsula. These burials reveal a generalized funeral practice that proliferated in the Early to Middle Bronze Age: that of burying humans together with domestic animals.

What is most striking about these sites is the way of burying the dead in large silos, along with their dogs and a few foxes. "We discovered that in some cases the dogs received a special kind of food. We believe this is linked to their function as working dogs. Besides, one of the foxes shows signs of having already been a domestic animal in those times," Aurora Grandal-d'Anglade, co-author of a study on the relationship between humans and dogs through their diet published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences



Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2019-02-foxes-domesticated-humans-bronze-age.html#jCp
 
Could they have been, rather than truly 'domestic' animals, kept in the same way that people will keep bears and wolves today?
 
Could they have been, rather than truly 'domestic' animals, kept in the same way that people will keep bears and wolves today?
Maybe but this might mitigate against that interpretation
"The case of the Can Roqueta fox is very special, because it is an old animal, with a broken leg. The fracture is still in its healing process, and shows signs of having been immobilized (cured) by humans. The feeding of this animal is very unusual, as it is more akin to a puppy dog's. We interpret it as a domestic animal that lived for a long time with humans," explains Grandal.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2019-02-foxes-domesticated-humans-bronze-age.html#jCp
 
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