Cherokee Dog Burials 13 



food on the right side. Both canine teeth in the lower mandibles were 

 worn down to smooth nubs, exposing the nerve canals, and apparently 

 projected little beyond the gum line. In addition to tooth wear and 

 loss, the animal suffered from several gum lesions or abscesses, judging 

 by enlargement of alveoli of the right P 3 4 , M 1 , P , and M . 



CONCLUSION 



The cranial proportions of Dog Burial 3 are very similar to those 

 of a beagle, although the muzzle is slightly broader and the rami of 

 the mandibles are somewhat more massive. The dentition exhibits extreme 

 wear, loss, and abscessing, an indication of the animals advanced age. 

 Poor preservation of the postcranial skeleton prohibited determination 

 of stature. However, the most complete limb element, a 103.0 mm 

 section of the left ulna, including most of the semilunar notch, approximates 

 the proportion of a forelimb of a beagle-sized dog. This compares favorably 

 with the stature of the dogs recovered at Chota, especially Dog Burial 

 1 (see Parmalee and Bogan 1978: Table 1). This dog also was infirm 

 when it died, attesting to the care both must have received as they 

 aged. The fragmented skulls and dentition of Dog Burials 1 and 2 

 at Chattooga also represent mature individuals of comparable size. These 

 data suggest that there was little size variability in historic Cherokee 

 dogs. 



Intentional burial of dogs by Native Americans in eastern North 

 America is well documented, this trait beginning over 7,000 years 

 ago (Morey and Wiant 1992). This implies that at least some individuals 

 attached a special meaning or feeling for a particular animal. Ethnographic 

 accounts, however, provide sparse information on the kinds of "breeds" 

 of dogs kept by southeastern groups, especially the Cherokee. Dogs 

 probably played a minimal role in the Cherokee economy, but they 

 were appropriately represented in social and ceremonial life as respected 

 spiritual forces. Intentional burial of dogs at Chattooga thus is consistent 

 with the archaeological and ethnographic occurrence of dogs in the 

 Southeast. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS — Archaeological and ethnohistorical research 

 at the Chattooga Site were sponsored by the United States Forest Service 

 and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We thank Robert Morgan 

 and James Bates of the Forest Service and Sharon Perkul of the Institute 

 of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, for 

 making the dogs recovered in 1984 available for study. 



