Chapter 3: Shata Rom- The Forgotten Secret of Human Evolution

One of the memories imprinted in dogs and passed on from ancient times is the recollection of how dogs and humans came to work together and how dogs played a role in the evolution of human species.

A very long time ago, most humans were of a different species than you. They were strong and smart, and excellent hunters. They had a developed sense of smell, strong intuitive skills, and communicated with hand signals and music-like tones. Modern humans appear to refer to them as Neanderthals.

Neanderthals had no interest in or need for the services of dogs. When very cold times came, competition grew among species for the other animals that you could hunt and eat. Neanderthals and dogs competed for meat, and dogs feared the relentless Neanderthals. Over time, the Neanderthals began to kill members of the Dogiverse for food. Dogs have a racial, imprinted visual memory of the Neanderthal faces, the spears and the snow and ice. To defend themselves against the new enemy, dogs drew themselves into larger packs so that more guarding dogs could be available while other members of each dog pack slept.

Over time, a new type of human appeared on the land mass occupied by the Neanderthals. They were thinner, taller and were not immediately acclimated to the Ice Age conditions of what humans call Europe. They had come from the lands south and east of Europe and had brought entirely different ways to live and hunt and grow food. And they quickly realized how dogs could fit into the life of their clans. For instance, with farms, dogs could perform the perimeter guarding duties, and be trained to herd farm animals. When hunting game or burrowed animals, dogs could quickly sniff them out, accurately and from a distance. When fishing, dogs could help by swimming out and bringing home some of the bounty. At night, people could use dogs as warm blankets. For all of this work, our canine ancestors in return received four things the Dogiverse needed as pack animals: food, defined work roles, protection from the dreaded Neanderthals, and a sense of belonging. At this time, dogs were not used by humans as pets, but were viewed by humans as valuable partners.

As the new people spread through Europe, there was more contact and competition with the Neanderthals for food. Over time, violent clashes ensued, and people died. Our canine ancestors were there, at the side of the new humans, protecting them as is our instinct. Today, people don't use dogs for as many purposes as in the ancient days. In battle, dogs were trained to stealthily circle around the attacking Neanderthals, and charge from the side while the humans charged from the front. Without this distraction, the accurate spears of the front-line Neanderthal hunters would have sealed the fate of these skirmishes.

Eventually, after many, many years of violent and difficult coexistence, most of the remaining Neanderthals gathered for self-preservation and lived at the side of a mountain in a valley called Rom. The new humans banded together for what they hoped would be a final battle to exterminate the Neanderthals. They gathered their dogs and spears and tents and food, and traveled to Rom, surrounding the valley. Using information now available to me on the Internet, I place this event around 28,840 B.C. The bloody carnage of the battle of Rom, what was at the time called Shata Rom, has been imprinted in canine brains since that time so long ago. The vital role that dogs played in the killing of the Neanderthals was not only critical to the outcome, but was a choice made by the Dogiverse for its own survival.