Stone Age dog skeleton, bone dagger found together in Swedish bog

"An excavation of the Logsjomossen in Gerstaberg in advance of construction of a new high-speed rail line unearthed the remains of the Stone Age dog buried with the 10-inch long dagger 5,000 years ago. Finding complete skeletons of dogs from this period is rare enough, but the discovery of a dagger accompanying the canine is unique. The layer where the bones were found was removed from the bog in three large sections for later excavation in laboratory conditions."

"Archaeologists concluded from the dog was male and between three and six years old when he died. He was well-muscled from having lived an active life, and about 20 inches high at the withers. The bones were articulated in their anatomically correct positions, but his skull was found in fragments further away from his body. It appears his skull was crushed before he was deposited in the lake."

Excavation at Logsjomossen bog in Gerstaberg uncovered a Stone Age dog skeleton buried with a 10-inch bone dagger dated about 5,000 years ago. The dog was male, about three to six years old, well-muscled, and roughly 20 inches high at the withers; bones were articulated while the skull was found fragmented and apparently crushed before deposition. The body was likely placed in an organic container with stones to weight it down and lowered into a shallow lake about five feet deep and 100–130 feet from shore. The dagger, carved from an elk or red deer metatarsal, was adjacent to the paws and resembles ritual daggers found in watery Neolithic contexts, alongside wooden piles, woven willow structures, and fish-trap remains radiocarbon dated between 3300–2600 B.C.

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