Category: mike-williams

Taming the Wolf – Domesticating the Dog

Little wolfThe first evidence for domesticated dogs has just got earlier with the recent dating of a dogs skull and teeth from Kesslerloch Cave in Switzerland. That puts the transition from wolf to dog to over 14,000 years ago. Previously, the earliest date was from a single jawbone that was found in a human grave at Oberkassel, in Germany, dating to about 13,000 years-ago. (There are earlier dates claimed for the first definite identification of dogs but these are usually discounted by experts).

The finds from Switzerland were uncovered in 1873 but it was only last year that archaeologists at Tubingen University in Germany recognised that the remains came from a dog rather than a wolf. The dating carried out on a tooth has revealed the animal died between 14,000 and 14,600 BP (before present).

These early dates are curious, as hunting strategies at that time would not necessarily require the assistance of dogs. Studies from northern France show that hunting was ambush based with animals speared as they passed through natural bottlenecks in the landscape, such as the Ahrensburg Valley. Here, the use of a spear-thrower increased the effectiveness of the weapon and the migrating reindeer died in great numbers. Interestingly, some people engraved their spear-throwers with scenes of the hunt but none shows the appearance of dogs. Indeed, in such a massacre, it is difficult to see how dogs would fit in at all and, yet, the remains from Switzerland suggest that they existed by this time.

It is likely that animals that chose to live with humans bred with other animals that adopted a similar lifestyle, replicating the traits that made the animal tolerant of humans. Slowly, the camp-wolves became the camp-dogs. In effect, the dog domesticated itself.

Stalking, the hunting method where a dog might have proved invaluable, came later. The warming climate at the end of the Ice Age caused large game animals to either die-out or move north and it was red deer and wild boar that took advantage of the advancing tree cover to expand their range. The people of the time changed their hunting strategy accordingly and the bow and arrow now became the weapon of choice. Dogs would have proved invaluable for stalking, flushing, and tracking dying animals. This is the time that we might expect people to have actively sought to domesticate the dog but, from the evidence at Switzerland, it had already happened, presumably without any human intervention. The change from wolf to dog requires a different explanation.

It is likely that wolves had always been aware of humans in the landscape. Scavenging human kill sites would have been a sure way of obtaining food and it is likely that this became the main survival strategy for a few packs. Over time, they may have ventured closer to human camps and even started to forage leftovers or eat any excrement that lay nearby. The people at the camp may have welcomed this cleaning service and tolerated the presence of the wolves. They may have even kept other, more dangerous predators at a safe distance.


It is likely that the dogs did not remain in packs for long but divided themselves between the family groups of the hunters. Evidence from modern hunter-gather villages where semi-tame dogs roam, shows that these animals do not necessarily form packs but tend to organise themselves into groups of no more than three, which then adopt a particular dwelling (and its occupants) as their own. In the past, perhaps this was the reason that people began to interact with dogs on an individual basis and the first relationships, with which we are now so familiar, began.

A burial from Israel dating to around 11,000 BP contained an elderly woman with her hand resting on the flank of a puppy. This may be the first sign of the affection we still hold for dogs but it was not until much later, during the Mesolithic, that the esteem in which people held them becomes apparent.

In the earliest cemetery at Skateholm in southern Sweden, dating to around 5,000 BC, dogs were sometimes buried in the same graves as people. These were likely animals that were sacrificed to accompany their masters into the afterlife. Clearly, the dog was considered indispensable by some.

Hunting Dog

Other dogs were afforded their own grave and people gave them items such as tools and weapons that would usually be the preserve of a hunter. But then, perhaps this is exactly what these dogs were considered to be: hunters and, accordingly, they were buried as such.

At this time, grave wealth usually accumulated to the young and fit, likely reflecting their ability to provide food for the others. The dogs were no different: they provided food from the hunt and they were honoured in the same way. Moreover, this was a time before any other animal had been domesticated and the cognitive boundary between humans and animals was still fluid enough to be breached: sometimes human into animal and, on this occasion, animal into human. It was a very different way of seeing the world and is almost diametrically opposed to everything we think about animals.

It was not to last. Perhaps familiarity bred contempt, but in a later cemetery at Skateholm (and possibly dating to only a few hundred years after the first cemetery), dogs were afforded a separate area for their burials, before being excluded altogether. Dogs had moved from being equal to humans in the hunt to being subservient to their masters. Perhaps, as their usefulness increased, their worth actually diminished. We still retain something of this contradiction in our own relationship with dogs. They can be our closest companions but are also the source of our cruellest insults. A bitch can be both our best friend or our worst enemy.

There is even evidence that the minds of dogs have evolved since they have been interacting with humans. Observing and identifying the attention state of others was thought to be the sole preserve of humans and yet it appears to be something dogs can also accomplish. Anyone who has had their dog watch their every move when they walk towards the dog lead will know how this appears.

Our relationship with dogs has come a long way since the first wolves started to follow the camps of our Palaeolithic forebears. We may never know for sure what made these wild animals befriend us and change to become an altogether different species but I am sure that I am not alone in being extremely grateful that they did.

Inside the Shaman’s Mind

Shamanism a practice by which a person communicates with the spirits can be found throughout the ancient worlds. Although shamanism takes many and varied forms around the world, what a shaman actually experiences whilst in trance is remarkably uniform. Almost all report leaving their bodies to journey to an otherworld where they meet and interact with spirits. The reason for such similarity lies within the mind itself and the shared neurobiology of every human. In fact, any one of us could have the same experience as a shaman if we put ourselves in trance.

Shamans have varied ways of entering trance but all attempt to slow brain waves from a beta state, the usual rhythm, through an alpha state (which corresponds to light meditation or engrossment in an activity), to a theta state or trance. Whereas some shamans might stay very still and concentrate on breathing or praying, others move about in frenetic dances or whirl like Dervishes. Both types of activity, paradoxically, lead to trance.

Hallucinations start and one of the most common entities to appear is an animal. Scientists call this zoopsia, whereas shamans call them spirits.

The reason for this paradox relates to the way our brains regulate our bodies. The sympathetic system of brain activity reacts to external stimuli. It creates arousal in the body through pleasure or pain. The parasympathetic system manages automatic processes such as breathing, sleeping, and digesting. It tends towards quiescence, that is, complete still and calm. The two work in opposition and keep our bodies in balance. Is it possible, however, to push either system to extreme. If we undertake physical activities that lead to hyper-arousal, we load the sympathetic system and the activity completely takes over so that we begin to lose ourselves in a state of flow. Similarly, if we undertake activities that lead to hyper-quiescence, we load the parasympathetic system and the mind begins to empty and turn inward.

Beyond hyper-arousal or hyper-quiescence lies a further state, where one system, usually quite separate, overflows and begins to spill over into the other. With hyper-arousal, this happens when our strenuous activity brings waves of tranquillity and stillness, such as the sensation after vigorous sex. The sympathetic system has overflowed and feelings now arise from the parasympathetic system. Similarly, with hyper-quiescence, there can be a point where deep meditation brings a rush of energy that quite overwhelms us. The parasympathetic system has overflowed and feelings now arise from the sympathetic system. In both cases, when one system overflows into another and our feelings no longer correspond to our actions, we experience an out-of-body sensation that is at the heart of shamanic trance.

The Breakdown Of Self-Identity

Many shamans report that gravity no longer tethers their bodies to the earth and they can fly through the air with little effort. Since the active neurons in the brain at this stage of trance have a spiralling tendency, a tunnel opens up before them, formed entirely within the eye retina itself. Shamans recognise this as a portal to the otherworld and they leave their physical bodies behind to travel down it. Limbs might grow longer or detach from the body as the perception of being in a physical form diminishes. These are the first signs that self-identity is breaking down as the overflow of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of the brain excludes any outside stimulus. The mind turns entirely inward. This overflow also causes a leaking of imagery from the unconscious mind into the conscious and, as the shaman steps out of the tunnel and enters the otherworld, they find themselves in a startling new reality.

The disintegration of the self continues and some shamanic communities now speak of terrible violence inflicted upon the body. This self-generated fear response stems from the over stimulation of the amygdala, a bunch of neurons that are responsible for orientating the body in space. When a shaman drums and dances with frenzied intensity, the amygadala starts to malfunction and this causes waves of fear, heightening the expectation of violence. Alternatively, with less frenzied activity, it may provoke feelings of religious awe.

Hallucinations start and one of the most common entities to appear is an animal. Scientists call this zoopsia, whereas shamans call them spirits. Although hallucinations arise from the preconscious part of the brain, there appears to be a definite pattern to them. Jung calls these archetypes and the wise teacher seems a particularly prevalent example from many cultures.

The Unconscious Mind

Since the body is losing its self-awareness, it appears to someone in trance that knowledge comes from a point outside the mind. Coupled with zoopsia it is not surprising that many shamans speak of guardian or power animals being a rich source of otherworldly wisdom: the wise teacher. Since the unconscious mind is leaking into the conscious mind, much of this wisdom might also appear novel and new.

It is not always an animal that fulfils the wise teacher archetype but it could also be another human, either living, dead, or entirely mythical. Seeing the dead whilst in trance may reveal the origin of belief in an afterlife and the survival of the soul after death. Many shamans speak of contacting their deceased ancestors whilst in shamanic trance.

As the self breaks down, there is a corresponding sense of unity with the rest of existence; there is no longer any individual identity. This may mean a person merges with whatever appears in front of them, such as their animal guide. Shamans often describe turning into an animals form and they call this shapeshifting. Others feel that they are one with the universe, as if all existence connects at this higher level. Everything appears to pulsate with energy and contain its own life force, giving rise to animism, the shamanic belief that all things are alive.
Eventually, any lingering sense of the self disappears entirely and all thoughts and experience appear to emanate from outside the body. Some discern an ultimate authority at this point; a controlling influence that lies beyond human existence and possibly beyond the world itself. It is not difficult for them to put a name to this supreme being: God.

The neurobiology of the human mind explains the similarities that underpin shamanism (and possibly all religions) around the world. Shamans see what they do because of their minds. Whether the otherworld and its spirits are merely hallucinations or are actually real is less easy to determine. That, like most other aspects of religion, is entirely a matter of individual faith and belief.