Show Notes
Recent DNA testing on a long ignored jawbone fragment has opened a viewpoint on the distant past to when and how animal companions began to alter the everyday lives of human communities. Join Chris as she explores this new research and wonders, on the way, what 'pet' names might they have chosen!
I will be following up this ramble with one exploring animal companions in early Irish stories.
If you would rather read than listen, a transcript is available for this episode.
Links for this episode
Listen to Chris' Ramble 21: Sheebeg and Other Cairns
Dogs were widely distributed across western Eurasia during the Palaeolithic: Lead Author: William Marsh. Published in 'Nature' in March 2026. Direct link to the paper.
Read the article from the Natural History Museum UK
National Geograophic article on the earliest images of domestic dogs
Scavenger and Sentry:The Roles of Dogs at Çatalhöyük. Author: Nerrissa Russell
Ancient_Felines_and_the_Great_Goddess. I haven't fully read this yet but include it as it might be of interest.
Ipuy's wife with her cat
An ostracon with'cartoon' cats.
More from Story Archaeology
The story of Sinann, who gave her name to the river Shannon, was first recorded, in written form, in the Metrical Dindshenchas, 'the Lore of Prominent Places'. Such tales morph and shapeshift as they are retold through time yet still retain unexpected applicabilities. Join Chris as she traces her own meandering journey in Sinann's company.
William Robinson: Tallanbanna with cloud front. 1988
Animal companions have played a variety of important roles in human societies over the millenia. Join Chris as she explores how dogs, cats and even the occasional crane, have been regarded and regulated both in the comprehensive early Irish law texts and Irish stories, mythology and folklore.