Revisiting Harold S. Colton’s 1970 Analysis of Dogs in the Southwest

Abstract

We provide an updated reanalysis of the morphological data underlying Harold S. Colton’s seminal study of prehistoric dogs in the U.S. Southwest, supplemented with subsequently published data. This analysis confirms Colton’s identification of two dog types in the Southwest and suggests that the larger dog type identified by Colton is primarily correlated with the Pueblo III (ca. 1150–1300 CE) and IV (ca. 1300–1600 CE) periods in the region. Notably, comparison with other published data suggests the larger, Puebloan, dogs do not originate from the Plains as suggested by Colton, though their origin remains unknown.