Dogs show nose for archaeology, help find ancient tombs

The dogs sniffed out burial chests containing human bones and artefacts in a hilltop fort in the Velebit mountains along the Adriatic coast

London: The scent-tracking abilities of trained dogs have helped archaeologists discover iron age tombs in Croatia dating back nearly three thousand years.

The dogs sniffed out burial chests containing human bones and artefacts in a hilltop fort in the Velebit mountains along the Adriatic coast. Experts have said that using dogs could be a good way to identify archaeological sites, as it is less destructive than many traditional methods, the Guardian reported.

“Dogs’ noses obviously don’t make mistakes,” said Vedrana Glavaš, an associate professor of archaeology at the University of Zadar in Croatia and the lead author of the study, which was published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.

Glavaš had already found a few tombs in a necropolis near the prehistoric hilltop fort of Drvišica, which dates back to the eight century BC. Hoping to find more, she contacted Andrea Pintar, a trainer who works with dogs used for sniffing out graves in criminal investigations.

Pintar brought Belgian malinois and German shepherds to the remote site in 2015.

Glavaš first sent the dogs to graves they had dug up the previous year but which were not apparent, without telling the trainers the location.

“We always use at least two dogs to confirm the position,” Glavaš said, adding that the second trainer and dog were not told where the first dog and trainer had indicated a grave.

The canines discovered all three graves, even though the human remains, associated artefacts and surrounding soil had been removed. The area had also been exposed to wind, sun and rain since the excavation.

Glavaš said the porous rock around the excavated soil had probably absorbed enough of the aroma of decomposition that the dogs could still detect it. Glavaš then let the dogs loose in an area they suspected more remains could be found, and excavated six new tombs – five of which are described in the recent paper.

The dogs were extremely accurate in every case. The tombs consist of small stone burial chests.