Wider World · AD 600–1050 · Castillo de Huarmey, Áncash, Peru
1,200-year-old mummified hairless dog found at Wari burial site in Peru
Missing teeth identified Peruvian hairless dogs at Castillo de Huarmey, and tooth and bone chemistry suggests some puppies may have been raised under controlled conditions.
Castillo de Huarmey, Peru Archaeologists have identified the remains of Peruvian hairless dogs at Castillo de Huarmey, a Wari Empire burial complex on Peru's northern coast. One naturally mummified male dog is at least 1,200 years old by radiocarbon dating. The study reports the first physical evidence of the breed at the site, from long before the Inca Empire.
The study appeared in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Its first author is Weronika Tomczyk, a research associate in Dartmouth College's Department of Anthropology. Her co-authors are Miłosz Giersz, Wiesław Więckowski and Roberto Pimentel Nita of the University of Warsaw, and Claire Ebert of the University of Pittsburgh.
Peruvian hairless dogs are an Indigenous breed with slender bodies, pointed ears and no fur. They often appear on pottery made by ancient societies of the Andean coast. The American Kennel Club recognises a variation of the breed as the Peruvian Inca Orchid. Peru declared the dogs part of its cultural heritage in 2000.
A Wari centre in a dry desert
Castillo de Huarmey lies about 300 km (190 miles) north of Lima and covers about 45 hectares (110 acres). It was an administrative and burial centre of the Wari Empire, occupied between AD 600 and 1050. It is the only Wari site found so far on Peru's northern coast.
The site is known for earlier finds. In 2012 researchers found the first undisturbed elite Wari tomb. It held 58 high-status women, six human sacrifices and about 1,300 artefacts. In 2022 archaeologists identified nearby burials of elite craftspeople with gold, silver and bronze tools.
The extremely dry climate preserves hair, bone, clothing, leather, pigments and decorated pottery. One vessel from the site shows a seated hairless dog with humanlike features, holding what looks like a musical instrument. But a strong earthquake in 1970 brought down part of the complex and exposed burial chambers. Looters then disturbed large areas.
The deeper layers kept their original Wari context. The upper layers, where most animal remains lay, were mixed. In the northern part of the main ceremonial area, three sets of dog remains stood out.
One was a naturally mummified skull with hairless skin and ears still attached. It had been coloured with cinnabar, a bright red pigment common in ancient Peruvian funerals. The others were a second, larger skull and the mummified skeleton of a male dog in a shallow pit. The skeleton was almost complete, missing only the lower parts of its front legs.
Missing teeth gave the breed away
The team first suspected the mummified dog was recent, perhaps buried around 50 years earlier during the looting. Then Tomczyk noticed two details. The animal was hairless, and all three dogs lacked their first premolars.
“What I noticed is that some of the dog skeletons were missing teeth, and not that they lost them during their lifespan; some teeth, especially first premolars and sometimes last molars, had just never erupted. And then I found in the literature that the same gene which is responsible for hairlessness in dogs is responsible for a reduced number of teeth, indicating that these were Peruvian hairless dogs.”
Weronika Tomczyk, research associate, Dartmouth College
Radiocarbon dating then showed the male dog is at least 1,200 years old. It is the oldest radiocarbon-dated specimen from Castillo de Huarmey so far. That gives the site's chronology another reference point.
In all, the excavations produced 341 dog bone specimens from at least 19 dogs, plus the complete mummified male. The bones of a puppy aged 6 to 8 weeks lay with an elite craftsperson nicknamed the "Master Basketmaker". An adult dog was buried in the palace. Part of a puppy skeleton lay with a man called XY, who was probably sacrificed as a tomb guardian.
Most dogs were adults when buried. Their remains suggest they were not all treated alike. Some appear to have been buried deliberately. Others lay among discarded material. Only a few bones carry butchery marks, which suggests dogs were not commonly eaten.
The team also used isotope analysis, which reads chemical signatures in bones and teeth that record diet and where an animal lived. They measured carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium, and compared the results with human and camelid remains from the site. Most dogs had eaten some maize, so their diet overlapped with that of the people.
The dogs thought to be hairless showed a distinct pattern. As puppies, their diets looked more like those of human children. As adults, their food became more varied. This raises the possibility that some puppies were raised under controlled conditions, perhaps as part of organised breeding.
“We do not know if the dogs were intentionally fed maize or if perhaps, they were just eating leftovers or trash. Yet, the distinct dietary patterns of hairless puppies provide insights into what may have been organized breeding.”
Weronika Tomczyk, research associate, Dartmouth College
The researchers stress that the evidence cannot show whether these dogs were pets, working animals or something else. Tomczyk said a pet for one group could at the same time be a pest to its neighbours.
“While we will never know if any of the three dogs were pets or how people treated them, it is evident they received different treatment than other dogs.”
Weronika Tomczyk, research associate, Dartmouth College
Sources (1)
Paper: Weronika Tomczyk, Miłosz Giersz, Wiesław Więckowski, Roberto Pimentel Nita, Claire E. Ebert. The many lives of companion species: a zooarchaeological and isotopic research on Wari dog remains from Castillo de Huarmey, Peru. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2026; 82: 101767. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaa.2026.101767
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