Wolf from Předmostí

Wolf from Předmostí

 

  • Gray wolf (Canis lupus - Linné, 1758)
  • Weight: 25-70 kg
  • Height at the shoulder: 60-90 cm
  • Body length: 105-160 cm
  • Tail length: 38-60 cm
  • Temporal range : pleistocene, holocene
  • Range: Europe, Asia, North America
  • Scientific classification: order - Carnivora, family - Canidae

Wolf as a very adaptable predator spread throughout the northern hemisphere. Its individual subspecies now live in the desert, tundra, taiga and swamps. Wolves live and hunt in packs and therefore they are able to catch even big animals like deer, reindeer and moose. The question of the first domestication of animals by man is closely connected right with the wolves. Highly developed social instinct of wolf probably surpassed the fear of presence of man and wolf began to gather garbage of prehistoric hunters. Increasingly, the wolf appeared near the hunting areas as is evident from archaeological excavations, which record the occurrence of complete skeletons of wolves in the immediate vicinity of hunting bases like Předmostí by Přerov and Dolní Věstonice. It is assumed that process of adoption takes place in such a way that the wolf cubs which were better-adaptable to human pack were taken away. In this first stage of the domestication of wolves there was not any morphological changes on their skeleton.

Dog assisted during tracking of hunted animals and after hitting the prey by arrow or spear to seek out wounded animal. It could also warn of strangers and dangerous animals. In the colder months it provided rare warmth in the homes and during hungry seasons it was also eaten. Over time, a different way of life was reflected in the anatomy changes of the dog compared with the original wolf.

Perhaps the most significant changes have taken place on the skull. Skull of a dog differs from the wolf one mainly in size. Dog skull is much smaller and has a broader palate. The jaws began to gradually reduce, leading to compacting the teeth next to each other and progressive positioning of themselves behind each other like coulisses.

 

 Comparison of size and shape between the dog skull (left) and the wolf skull (right)

 

 
Comparison of size and shape between the dog skull (left) and the wolf skull (right)

 

Over time, the size of dog teeth was reduced as well as its skeleton. Already in Pavlovian, 26 thousand years ago, in the most powerful agglomeration of mammoth hunters in the Předmostí by Přerov we notice smaller bones of wolves, who are supposed to be already domesticated. Therefore this is the oldest evidence of wolf domestication in the world.

 

The skull of wolf (without lower jaw)

 

The skull of wolf (without lower jaw)
Entire wolf skeleton

 

Entire wolf skeleton

 The skull of wolf

 

The skull of wolf

 


It's Sunday, December 13th, 2010. The clock displays 4:15 PM. We are inside the Anthropos Pavilion, where the guide Mgr. Petr Kašpárek is just guiding the group of visitors. We all together came in front of the reconstructed habitation of mammoth hunters.

 The reconstructed habitation of mammoth hunters

 

There is a stuffed wolf with piece of dried meat in his maw, in front of the tent made from animal leather and weighted with mammoth bones to withstand strong wind. Petr goes on with his speech:

 
"Dear visitors, here is the habitation of mammoth hunters. This wolf is not here by accident. Wolves were fellow-travellers of mammoth hunters. If you turn around, you can see the skulls of wolves from Předmostí by Přerov inside the showcase. It is about very first domestication of wolf in the world."

 

Mammoth hunters, Anthropos

 

Mammoth hunters, Anthropos
Mammoth female with the young, Anthropos

 

Mammoth female with the young, Anthropos

 

Mammoth skeleton (put together from the bones which were found in the excavation in Předmostí by Přerov), Anthropos

 

Mammoth skeleton (put together from the bones which were found in the excavation in Předmostí by Přerov), Anthropos
Wolf radius with notches is considered as the oldest tally at all

 

Wolf radius with notches is considered as the oldest tally at all

 


Wolf bones, the second most numerous after mammoth ones, had occured in specific situations. In K.J. Maška's sector were laid complete wolf (up to 8 per 10 square meters) and fox skeletons - in a layer of ash where stone tools were not found.

 

The skull of wolf from Předmostí

 

The skull of wolf from Předmostí
The skull of wolf from Předmostí

 

The skull of wolf from Předmostí

 

The fragment of wolf mandibula, Předmostí

 

The fragment of wolf mandibula, Předmostí
The fragment of wolf mandibula, Předmostí

 

The fragment of wolf mandibula, Předmostí

 

There were lain almost-complete wolf skeletons in the neighbourhood of the mass grave in Předmostí. The wolves from Předmostí belonged to some small, partly domesticated breed which is evident  from setting of teeth in jaws.

 

The fragment of mandibula of semi-domesticated wolf from Předmostí

 

The fragment of mandibula of semi-domesticated wolf from Předmostí
The fragment of mandibula of semi-domesticated wolf from Předmostí

 

The fragment of mandibula of semi-domesticated wolf from Předmostí

 

Lebka rituálně pohřbeného vlka se zlomkem koňské kosti v čelistech, Předmostí u Přerova, stáří 25 000 let; Expozice Svět v podzemí, Zoologická a botanická zahrada města Plzeň;  © Pavel Reich 2013

 

 

The skull of ritually buried wolf, with fragment of equine bone in the jaws, Předmostí by Přerov, age 25 000 years; Underground Exhibit, Zoological and botanical garden Plzen;  © Pavel Reich 2013

 

Wolf (Canis lupus) was abundantly hunted for its fur and in the lack periods may have also been hunted for its meat. The small form of a wolf typical for Předmostí is considered to be the first dog. Genetic analyses imply this age - 26000 years ago for the separation of dog from wolf.

Wolf bones in situ, The Monument of mammoth hunters, Předmostí, statutory town Přerov

 

Wolf bones in situ, The Monument of mammoth hunters, Předmostí, statutory town Přerov
Wolf's bones in situ, The Monument of mammoth hunters, Předmostí, statutory town Přerov

 

 
Wolf's bones in situ, The Monument of mommoth hunters, Předmostí, statutory town Přerov

 

The Monument of mammoth hunters in Předmostí by Přerov protects archaeological exposure by the cemetery wall, which made it possible to preserve in-situ excavations of the Stone Age and made them accessible for public - for the first time in the Czech Republic. These are the bones of animals from the last ice age. Prevailing woolly mammoth, but there are also many other animal species - Equus ferus germanicus, reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), wolf (Canis lupus), Eurasian cave lion (Panthera leo speleae), arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), aurochs (Bos primigenius) and mountain hare (Lepus timidus). Also, the remains of human artifacts from the time of the mammoth hunters were uncovered, especially chipped stone tools. Bones of animals are spread over a gentle slope in several layers. They consist of a large whole bones and parts of small burnt bones mixed with dye. Part of the bones is cut with stone tools, as a man process and use up caught animal on the spot. Moreover, stone tools were scattered in the cultural layers. An extraordinary find is the bone fragment decorated with crosshatch pattern.

Huge piles of animal bones around the main encampment of mammoth hunters close to Skalka in Předmostí by Přerov were piled up by human hands (same case are archaeological excavations in the Monument of mammoth hunters). These piles can not be explained simply as a garbage (kitchen waste) or raw material / fuel store. There is too many big and heavy bones, which were not used in any way (the lower jaw, skull, pelvis, scapula), and next to them a number of isolated molars and tusks. These mysterious deposition seems to be rather a collection of bones of prestige game animals from representational and transcendental reasons.

Based on ethnological sources we know that hunters burn bones or hang them on trees or put them into the swamp etc., due to reconciliation with some kind of protective spirit, so called "Lord of animals". For prehistoric hunters an animal was not only a prey, but also a partner. In a highly competitive society of mammoth hunters the daily life was complemented with ceremonies and rituals, whose part could be the deposition of widest possible choice of bones of a catch.

 

General view of the excavation

 

 

General view of the excavation
General view of the excavation

 

 

General view of the excavation

 

At the present day, only the limestone block surrounded with housing estate remained well preserved from the famous excavation Skalka in Předmostí by Přerov (the picture below on the right).

The hillock Skalka in Předmostí by Přerov in paleolithic period

 

The hillock Skalka in Předmostí by Přerov in paleolithic period
The excavation in Předmostí by Přerov in year1886

 

 
The excavation in Předmostí by Přerov in year 1886
The limestone block Skalka (present-day state)

 

The limestone block Skalka (present-day state)

 


This article among others contains photos of the exhibits and the text from the exhibitions in both the Anthropos Pavilion in Brno and the Monument of mammoth hunters in Přerov – Předmostí. We warmly recommend to all who are interested in the Wolf from Předmostí to visit both museum institutions. Since 2016 you may also visit the Archeopark Pavlov, which is the "in-situ" exhibition and is located in Southern Moravia where the mamooth hunters lived 30000 years ago.

Related information about the Wolf from Předmostí

  • The sequence of findings of the oldest domesticated wolf's skulls:

Read more: Related information about the Wolf from Předmostí