Conversely, it could be argued that the deliberate location and pursuit on hunting wolf packs would ha ve been more arduous and less rewarding for our ancestors than hunting independently. Wolves often hunt over enormous distances, and the majority of these expeditions fail to culminate in successful kills. Paleolithic hunters may have robbed wolves of their prey from time to time on an opportunistic basis, but on balance it is unlikely that they would have adopted this style of hunting as a way of life. Unfortunately, archeological records shed little light on the question of whether Stone Age people made use of tame or domestic wolves for hunting, and whether their efficiency as hunters was enhanced as a result. The oldest indisputable evidence of dogs being used for hunting comes from predynastic Egypt some 6ooo years ago, at least 6ooo years after the original domestication. The dogs depicted in the art of the period were almost indistinguishable from the modern Basenji, a breed still used for hunting in parts of central Africa. The fact that a special breed of hunting dog was already in existence at this time confirms that hunting was one of the earliest recorded economic functions of domestic dogs, but it does not tell us when the practice began or how widespread it was in Antiquity. The evidence from contemporary hunting societies is equally ambiguous. There are no wild canis species in South America, and man y of the hunting tribes’ southern part of the Amazon Basin never encountered dogs until the arrivals of Europeans. In man y cases, they regard dogs as useless or even dangerous but this attitude does not appear to affect their hunting success however in northern Amazonia, Venezuela and Guyana, the majority of Indians believe that they can hunt effectively only with canine assistance, and consequently they value good hunting dogs above most other possessions.
The same attitude is found in Australia. Aboriginal tribes in the arid interior used to keep dogs and tame Dingos in large numbers and evidently regarded them with affection, but they did not employ them for hunting, and the dogs apparently showed little inclination to participate. In contrast, the Aborigines of northeastern Australia used to capture and tame wild Dingo pups to assist them in hunting. According to the nineteenth-century Swedish explorer Lumholtz, these animals, though somewhat unreliable, were indispensable for hunting certain types of game. He described how a hunting Dingo 'sometimes refuses to go any farther and its owner has then to carry it on his shoulders, a luxury of which it is very fond'. Lumholtz's observations provide evidence that simple hunting societies were quite capable of taming and using wild dogs for hunting. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing whether Paleolithic people made similar use of wild wolves. The Dingo itself is probably derived from domestic dogs brought to Australia thousands of years ago by settlers from South-East Asia. Although it has since reverted to a wild state, the tradition of using it for hunting may have survived intact from these early times.
Hunting with dogs is widespread among African hunter societies, such as the Pygmies of Zaire and Cameroon, the Dorobo of Kenya and the !Kung San Bushmen of Botswana. The dogs are usually employed for hunting small antelope and warthog. The latter has an unusual defensive Strategy when pursued by carnivores it races to its burrow and reverses down it so that only the formidable bony head and tusks protrude from the entrance. In this position it is invulnerable to attack by most predators, but not to a combined assault by men and dogs hunting together. The dogs keep the warthog in situ until the hunters arrive to dispatch the animal with spears.
The introduction of hunting dogs around the turn of this century has revolutionized the basic economy of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. Formerly, the Andamese subsisted largely on shellfish, but by 1960 they had evolved a flourishing hunting economy based largely on the capture of wild pig. Like their warthog relatives, the wild pigs of Asia stand at bay to defend themselves when attacked; ordinarily, this tactic would drive off all but the largest packs of dogs, but when men and dogs hunt together the same behavior is virtually suicidal.
It would appear that the value of dogs as hunting aids depends on the local situation and the types of game. Certain species which tend to stand at bay or to take refuge in burrows or streams when pursued would stand little chance if hunted by dogs accompanied by humans. Other species which take to their heels and attempt to outdistance canine pursuers would probably have been unsuitable game. Stone Age dogs would either have become exhausted or would have left the hunters far behind.
