Dog domestication and the early period of dog breeding in China

The article summarizes some recent results in studying dog domestication and the most ancient findings of domestic dogs in the territory of China. At this time the results of genetic researches point that the dog was firstly domesticated in East Asia (including the territory of China south of Yangtze River) not later than 15 000 BP. Meanwhile according to archaeological data, the earliest fossils belonging to domestic dogs were found in Europe and Altai Region. They date back to 13 900 BP (Eliseevichi village, Bryansk oblast, Russia), 33 000 BP (Razboinichya Cave, Altai Republic, Russia) and even 36 500 BP (Goyet Cave, Belgium). But at the same time, the results of 3D morphometric analysis of canid fossils from Eliseevichi and Goyet held by international group of scientists dispute their beloning to domestic dogs. Authors claim that the fossil skulls belonged to wolves. Thus the question of the time and place of dog domestication remains unclear at this moment. As for the reasons of dog domestication, there is no agreement among researchers so far too. As for the archaeological findings of early dogs from the territory of China, it is assumed that the most ancient fossils were found at the Angangxi site (11 000-10 000 BP) in Heilongjiang Province or at the Nanzhuangtou site in Xushui County, Hebei Province (10 000 BP). In the neolithic period the dog breeding was widespread over the territory of China in such cultures, as Peiligang (6 200- 5 500 BC, Henan Province), Cishan (6 000/5 500-5 000/4 500 BC, south part of Henan Province), Qingliangang (5 400-4 400 BC, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces), Dawenkou (4 300-2 200 BC, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces), Hemudu (5000/4500-3400 BC, north-east part of Zhejiang Province), Houwa (4 000-3 000 BC, Liaoning Province), Liangzhu (3 200-2 200 BC, Jiansu and Zhejiang provinces), Daxi (4 400-3 300 BC, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan) provinces), Majiayao (4 000-2 800 BC, Gansu, Qinghai provinces, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region), Xinkailiu (4 000- 3 000 BC, Heilongjiang Province), Fuhe (3 500-3 100 BC, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), Xiaoheyan (3 500-3 000 BC, Liaoning Province), Majiabin (5 000-4 000 BC, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces), Songze (4 400-3 300 BC, the city of Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces), Shijiahe (2 500-2 000 BC, Henan, Hubei, Hunan provinces), Tanshishan (2 500-2 000 BC, Fujian Province), Yangshao culture community (6 000-2 000 BC, the area of the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow river) and Longshan culture community (2 900/2 400-2 000/1 900 BC the area of the middle reach of the Yellow river) and in Qijia eneolithic culture (2 400-1 900 BC, Gansu and Qinghai provinces).