It is estimated that dogs were domesticated by humans between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago, and they are present in archaeological and cultural records around the world. Since this domestication, dogs have acted as hunters, herders, beasts of burden, guides, and general companions. Although dogs in Europe developed genetically separately from dogs in the Americas, both Europeans and Indigenous people of many American cultures valued dogs just as we do today. In addition, dogs across numerous cultures held spiritual significance. In late 16th and early 17th century England, dogs were an important part of English stratified society. Hunting dogs and small lap dogs were primarily owned by nobility, their presence a signal of their owner’s status.
The first recorded European dog at Jamestown is described by John Smith as a white greyhound, brought to Virginia by Christopher Newport in 1608 as a gift from King James I to Powhatan. Uttamatomakkin, a companion of Pocahontas in England in 1617, mentions this dog after his first meeting with the King, using the opportunity to highlight the difference between the welcome he received from James I and the welcome the dog received from Powhatan, stating, “You gave Powhatan a white Dog, which Powhatan fed as himselfe; but your King gave me nothing, and I am better than your white Dog.”
During the Starving Time, dogs are one of the few animals mentioned by name as a food source the colonists turned to out of desperation. George Percy noted, “Then, having fed upon horses and other beasts as long as they lasted, we were glad to make shift with vermin, as dogs, cats and mice.” Excavations of various Starving Time features, namely the First Well and the Kitchen/Cellar, have unearthed several hundred dog bones, many of which feature prominent butchery marks.
In 1619, the selling of English breeds, namely mastiffs, greyhounds, bloodhounds, and spaniels, to the Virginia Indians was made illegal during a meeting of the General Assembly. The law read, “That no man doe sell or give any of the greatter howes to the Indians, or any English dog of quality, as a mastive, greyhound, bloodhounde, lande or water spaniel, or any other dog or bitche whatsoever, of the Englishe race, upon paine of forfaiting 5s sterling to the publique uses of the Incorporation where he dwelleth.”. The mention of multiple breeds by name in this law suggests that these different types of dogs had begun to arrive in Virginia by August of that year.
While it is clear from documentary records that European dogs were present at Jamestown, genetic testing of some of the dog bones found by archaeologists confirmed that at least six of the dogs at the site in the early 17th century were Indigenous. Analysis of the dog bones in the Jamestown collection suggests that at least 16 dogs were present, died, and became part of refuse at the site in the first quarter of the 17th century. Most of these dogs likely weighed between 22-42lbs, comparable in size to modern beagles, bull terriers, springer spaniels, or standard schnauzers.
Because dogs are culturally significant to Virginia Indian tribes, illustrations of the remains rather than photographs are used for this website page. Illustrations by Eleanor Robb, Archaeological Field Technician.
