Nelson Bryson wrote:
> "Wayne and his colleagues suggest that dogs aren't seen in the
> archaeological record until 14,000 years ago because they looked like
> wolves before that date.  Dogs, they propose, may not have become
> morphologically distinct from wolves--becoming smaller and shorter
> muzzled--until humans themselves settled down in agricultural communities=

Hunting with dogs requires a different set of tool than does hunting without them.  As the dogs now hold the
large game at bay (see: Stefansson's polar bear hunt description) rather than your fellow humans, lighter
weapons used at longer range replace far heavier spears and blunt insturments.  These are far more accurate
indicators of Man's involvement with dogs than signs of early neotny in canines which include spotted fur and
curly tails but almost no difference in bone structure.

Neoteny in both humans and dogs began long before they entered into this symbiotic relationship.  Neoteny is a
common mutation whenever a species is stressed by a rapidly expanding or contracting range as was the case
during the very irregular last ice age.

BTW, fires used for cooking are obvious to scientists (and human trackers) because of their construction and
wastes left by cooking itself.  Use of fire for warmth preceeded cooking by many thousands of years.  The tools
(grindstones, pots, etc) necessary to cook the forbidden fruits are only found within the last 10,000 years.

The earliest examples of cultivation (hemp) date from around 25,000 years ago but this may not have been for
food (if you know what I mean - and I know you do:).

Ray