[Nathan Zachary]

"Co-author Heather Lapham, a zooarchaeologist at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, said the team also found bones of dogs, deer, and fish—indications that the residents ate well and thus probably were of a higher social status."

Could be that they burned and buried their faithful hunting dog pal, just like they burned and buried their wife and kids. Could be they burned and buried everything in a pit near their hut. Doesn't mean they ate their dog. Maybe they ate their wives and kids too. Cremation was a way to keep disease away, especially if digging deep graves was difficult. It doesn't mean it was some ritual in which they thought souls went up to heaven in the smoke, or it was any kind of ritual at all, just a simple effective method to keep the smell of decaying flesh down so they didn't have to move away so often.

[OeOeO]

The Pre-Columbian Mexicans ate dog. There was a theory that
the human sacrifice thing was a pretense to get at some human protein. There does not seen to be a lot of edibles in central Mexico at the time.

[count-your-change]

Ever hear of Colima dogs? Both worshipped and eaten as food in past in Mexico. Colima breed still exists. Great story if you want to go to Colima, Mexico to investigate.