In 2011, archaeologists digging in a second-century A.D. trash dump near an ancient Red Sea port found the remains of a cancer-ridden hound dog wrapped in a palm leaf mat. The team unearthed 585 cat, dog, monkey and fox skeletons across the roughly 1,000-square-foot area over the next decade. The animals often wore collars and were covered with textiles or pottery pieces. Nearly 2,000 years ago, residents of Berenice, a Roman-ruled trading post in Egypt, created perhaps the world’s oldest pet cemetery.
These aren’t the first animal grave finds. At sites dated between 7,000 and 27,000 years old in Eurasia and North America, archaeologists have found burials of canines who likely accompanied hunter-gatherers. Ancient Egyptians mummified cats, crocodiles and other creatures to entomb with dead humans for spiritual purposes. Yet Berenice marks the earliest evidence for a necropolis of genuine pets, rather than animals reserved for food, work or rituals.
...Residents used the cemetery during the first and second century A.D., when Berenice admitted merchants from around the world. Some pets, like two Asian macaque monkeys, likely accompanied immigrants....
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Originally Posted by carolina73
