The relation between society and dog breeds (Canis familiaris) in the Andean from Early Intermediate to Middle Horizon

Andean societies never build a homogenous unit in the history of ancient America. While the Inca Empire is good documented, there are several possible empires in ancient America where the question weather it was a state, local chiefdoms, or a confederation of polities is still unsolved.

Certain breeds of dogs were used in old world high cultures as depicted symbols of divine and secular power, e.g. in glyphs or ceramic vessels. In depictions of South American high cultures they were also connected with corresponding ruling elites and their religious practices. In the Andean the depicted dog breeds, e.g. in ceramic vessels changed through time. While depictions of hairless dogs appeared and spread from northern America to the Andean in the Middle Horizon and Late Intermediate, there are no archaeological bone findings of such species in this area. This change from a black and white hunting dog in the Early Intermediate to a hairless dog in the Middle Horizon and Late Intermediate can therefore only be understood with the interpretation of ceramic vessels and the symbolic meaning of the depicted dogs. The research of the symbolic meaning of special dog breeds in depictions cannot only help to understand the role of dog breeding and dog breeds in cosmology and religious practices. Together with bone findings and dog mummies it can contribute to understand the social self-conception and possible societal and cultural changes.