Dog Burials from the Eighteenth Century Cherokee Town 

 of Chattooga, South Carolina 



Gerald F. Schroedl 



Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, 



Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-0720 



AND 



Paul W. Parmalee 



Frank H. Mclung Museum, University of Tennessee 



Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-3200 



ABSTRACT — Archaeological excavations recovered the remains of three 

 dogs from two pit-features at the eighteenth century village site of 

 Chattooga in South Carolina. The three individuals were small to 

 medium-sized animals. Observations on one animal (Dog 3) indi- 

 cate extreme age at death, suggesting that the dog was given spe- 

 cial care during its life. These occurrences are consistent with ar- 

 chaeological and historical information about the role of dogs in 

 Cherokee society. 



Archaeological investigations at the historic eighteenth century 

 town of Chattooga, Oconee County, South Carolina, recovered the remains 

 of three dogs which were deliberately interred in pit-features (Schroedl 

 1995). These burials are an example of a practice documented at other 

 historic Cherokee sites. Analysis of the skeletal remains shows that 

 some dogs were so incapacitated by old age that they must have received 

 special care for them to have lived so long. Intentional burial also 

 attests to the regard afforded these animal regardless of their age at 

 death. 



Reported from two village sites in East Tennessee are three historic 

 period Cherokee dogs and four additional skeletons which may represent 

 historic Cherokee or late prehistoric Mississippian period (A.D. 1400 

 to 1600) associations (Parmalee and Bogan 1978; see also Bogan 1976, 

 1980, 1983; Bogan et al. 1986). Each animal was about the size of 

 a beagle and was deliberately buried. Significantly, Dog Burial 1 at 

 the Chota site was an older animal, which, because it was arthritic 

 and had a deformed right hind foot, must have received special care 

 during its life (Parmalee and Bogan 1978:105). Isolated elements of 

 domestic dogs are infrequent in late prehistoric and historic faunal 

 samples in East Tennessee, suggesting that the Cherokee seldom ate 

 dogs and infrequently discarded them with refuse. In other areas of 



Brimleyana 24:7-14, April 1997 



