Study Suggests Korea's Ancient Dogs Differed from Other East Asian Canines

Archaeology Magazine ^ | May 8, 2026 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

A genetic study of the remains of four 2,000-year-old dogs recovered from two archaeological sites on the Korean Peninsula suggests that the canines belonged to a lineage separate from other dog populations in East Asia, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. It had been previously thought that dog populations in East Asian shared a single lineage. Hyeongcheol Kim of the Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Suyeon Kim and A-reum Yu of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, and their colleagues determined that ancient Korean dogs resembled the Australian dingo and the New Guinea singing dog. Korean dogs were also found to carry DNA from European dogs, indicating that Korean dogs had contact with Western dogs over a period of thousands of years. In addition, Korean dogs and wolves continued to interbreed after domestication. Most of this contact was with the now extinct Japanese wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax), but ancient Korean dogs also likely mixed with wolf populations from Korea and China. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS One. To read about another study of dogs in the Pacific Northwest, go to "Ancient DNA Revolution: Wild and Woolly Ancestors."

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: animalhusbandry; cancer; canislupushodophilax; china; dingo; dog; dogs; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; japan; japanesewolf; korea; newguinea; parasite; singingdog; weird

[SunkenCiv]

I tried contacting one of the researchers, got his machine. Message indicated that he was in his lab. I left no message.

[2nd Amendment]

Only scared dogs hang around Asian restaurants

[SunkenCiv]

sidebars from the FRchives:

• Hairless Dogs Identified at Wari Site in Peru [04/20/2026]
• Dog Domestication in Europe Dated to More Than 14,000 Years Ago [03/28/2026]
• Most modern dogs have wolf DNA from relatively recent interbreeding. Here's which breeds are the most and least 'wolfish.' [11/26/2025]
• Mystery Solved: 14,000-Year-Old "Puppies" Were Actually Wolves [10/17/2025]
• How did humans and dogs become friends? Connections in the Americas began 12,000 years ago [12/09/2024]
• Archaeologists Totally Confused By Bizarre Anglo-Saxon Find [01/02/2024]
• Early Romans may have been the first to breed flat-faced dogs [04/26/2023]
• Remains of ancient, indigenous dogs found at Jamestown, as well as proof people ate them [01/08/2023]
• Oldest Known Dog Bone Hints Our Best Friends Were With Us Earlier Than Thought [12/01/2022]
• The Extinct Dog Breeds of Ancient Rome [06/28/2022]
• Ancient puppy paw prints found on Roman tiles [04/21/2014]

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• Importance of a Dog in Zoroastrian religion [02/23/2026]
• The English words nobody can explain [23:24] [12/15/2025]
• Cerberus: Guard Dog of the Underworld in Ancient Greek Mythology [08/09/2024]
• Odysseus and the Most Loyal Dog in Greek Mythology [06/11/2024]
• It's Science: Petting Dogs Is Good for You [03/15/2024]

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• Debilitating Human Parasite -- Worms That Grow Up to 3 Feet Long in the Body -- Transmitted via Dogs Eating Fish [12/14/2021]
• Scientists find 'unknown link' between lung cancer and common parasite (Active or latent Toxoplasma Gondii found in 100% of lung cancer patients (72/72)) [11/02/2021]

[Adder]

With pop up timers...

[Skid289]

They taste rike chicken!

[mikey_hates_everything]

the now extinct Japanese wolf

Ha! What my 3000 year old breed Shiba Inu descended from. The little bastards are crazy for the first few years but are practically born housebroken, clean themselves like cats and are extremely loyal. Most can only have one owner. The Shiba, Korean Jindo, the dingo and the New Guinea singing dogs all look similar but haven’t yet been connected genetically.

[minnesota_bound]

Korean dogs were raised to be soft and juicy and taste good with a side of rice....

[Salamander]

😭💔😭