Fox Found in 1,500-Year-Old Argentine Burial Site Suggests They Were Kept as Pets

Researchers have unearthed the remains of a fox at a pre-Hispanic burial site in Argentina, dating back 1,500 years. The findings, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, suggest the fox may have been more than just a wild creature—it might have been kept as a pet or held a special symbolic significance within the community.

The excavation, conducted at the Cañada Seca site in Patagonia, revealed the almost complete skeletal remains of a fox, initially thought to belong to a species of Lycalopex, but later identified as Dusicyon Avus, a fox species that went extinct approximately 500 years ago. This surprising discovery challenges previous knowledge about the distribution of this species, as it was not known to have roamed in north-western Patagonia.

Ophélie Lebrasseur of the University of Oxford, one of the co-authors of the study, suggests several possibilities regarding the relationship between the fox and the human inhabitants of the site. The fox may have been a cherished companion, symbolically important to the community, or buried alongside its owners or those with whom it shared a particular bond.

The absence of signs of consumption and the deliberate burial of the fox’s remains indicate a meaningful connection between the animal and the humans at the site. Radiocarbon dating places the fox‘s existence contemporaneously with the human inhabitants, further suggesting its integration into their lives. Additionally, stable isotope analyses revealed that the fox had a diet similar to that of the humans, including plant matter like maize. This suggests close proximity between the fox and the community, either through direct feeding or scavenging on refuse.

The discovery aligns with previous findings in Buenos Aires province, where a similar species of fox was found adjacent to the burials of a hunter-gatherer community dating back to the late second millennium BC. This continuity in findings across different sites reveals the significance of human-animal relationships in ancient cultures.

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