• DOI:10.1179/2055557115Y.0000000011
• Corpus ID: 130862425

Tar Trap: No Evidence of Domestic Dog Burial with “La Brea Woman”

@article{Fuller2016TarTN,
  title={Tar Trap: No Evidence of Domestic Dog Burial with “La Brea Woman”},
  author={Benjamin T. Fuller and John R. Southon and Simon M Fahrni and John M. Harris and Aisling B. Farrell and Gary T. Takeuchi and Olaf Nehlich and Michael P. Richards and Eric J. Guiry and R. E. Taylor},
  journal={PaleoAmerica},
  year={2016},
  volume={2},
  pages={56 - 59}
}

• B. T. Fuller, J. Southon, +7 authors R. E. Taylor
• Published 2 January 2016
• Environmental Science
• PaleoAmerica

We radiocarbon dated the domestic dog found associated with La Brea Woman at the Rancho La Brea tar pits (Los Angeles, CA) to determine the validity of this human–dog connection. The domestic dog yielded a radiocarbon age of 3125 ± 25 14C yr BP (3250–3400 cal yr BP) and La Brea Woman had a re-dated age of 9080 ± 15 14C yr BP (10,220–10,250 cal yr BP). This ∼7000-year offset dispels the hypothesis this was an intentional and ceremonial human–dog burial.