Archaeologists have uncovered compelling evidence that humans cared for wolves thousands of years before the emergence of modern dogs, pointing to a far more complex and ancient relationship than previously understood.
An Unexpected Discovery on a Remote Island
The groundbreaking findings centre on wolf remains discovered in the Stora Förvar cave on the small Swedish island of Stora Karlsö in the Baltic Sea. The island measures a mere 2.5 square kilometres and has no native land mammals, making the presence of wolves there highly unusual. Researchers from Stockholm University dated the remains to between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago, a period spanning the late Stone Age and Bronze Age.
Because of the island's isolation, the study concludes that the wolves must have been brought there by people, most likely by boat. The cave itself showed signs of heavy use by prehistoric seal hunters and fishers, creating a picture of a shared habitat.
Wolves Living Alongside Humans
DNA analysis of two bones confirmed the animals were wolves, not dogs. Several features indicated these canines had close contact with humans. Intriguingly, one of the wolves appears to have survived with a significant limb injury that would have made hunting nearly impossible, strongly suggesting it received care and sustenance from people.
"The discovery of these wolves on a remote island is completely unexpected," said study author Linus Girdland-Flink from the University of Aberdeen. "Not only did they have ancestry indistinguishable from other Eurasian wolves, but they seemed to be living alongside humans, eating their food, and in a place they could have only reached by boat."
Rethinking Early Domestication Experiments
The research, published in the journal PNAS, challenges existing theories on how dogs evolved from wolves. While one leading idea suggests wolves gradually adapted to living near human settlements, another proposes people hand-reared wolf pups. This new evidence supports the latter, indicating active human management.
"While we can't rule out that these wolves had low genetic diversity for natural reasons, it suggests that humans were interacting with and managing wolves in ways we hadn't previously considered," explained co-author Anders Bergström from the University of East Anglia.
Scientists say the interactions at the cave hint at early, close cooperation—experiments in domestication that did not directly lead to modern dogs. Pontus Skoglund from the Francis Crick Institute, another co-author, called it a "provocative case" that shows humans in certain environments kept wolves in their settlements and found value in doing so.
The study confirms that the relationships between humans and wolves in prehistory were far more varied and intimate than a simple narrative of wild versus tame, reshaping our understanding of this foundational partnership.
