1k-year-old dingo bones show that it was injured, cared for, and ritually buried

Recorded: May 25, 2026, 2:01 a.m.

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1,000-year-old dingo bones show that it was injured, cared for, and ritually buried | Popular Science

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Environment Animals Pets Dogs
1,000-year-old dingo bones show that it was injured, cared for, and ritually buried
The dog survived traumatic injuries, thanks to his Barkindji caretakers.

By Laura Baisas

Published

May 18, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

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The skeleton of the dingo (garli) in the soil.

Dr. Amy Way, Australian Museum

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The remains of an ancient dingo is shining new light on deep relationships between Australia’s First Nations and the wild dogs. Barkindji ancestors deliberately cared for and buried the dingo along the Baaka (Darling River) about 800 miles west of Sydney.
The dingo is known as garli in Barkindji language and they lived alongside the Barkindji as part of the community. While burying the dog, the Barkindji took great care in building a midden, or a spot to place organic material. The people living there continued to bring river mussel shells to the midden for hundreds of years after the dingo’s death. Archaeologists believe that this marks the first time this type of post-death feeding ritual has been scientifically documented. The findings are detailed in a study published today in the journal Australian Archeology.
The garli skeleton site before excavation, Kinchega National Park. Image: Dr. Amy Way, Australian Museum.
“While Barkindji people have always known about this cultural practice, this discovery is really powerful because it provides new details on the depth of that relationship between Barkindji people and dingoes,” study co-author Dr. Amy Way, an archaeologist at the Australia Museum and university, said in a statement. “If garli were buried with the same care and respect we see for human ancestors, including mothers and elders, it tells us these animals were profoundly valued and loved.”
The burial site was first identified in 2020 by Barkindji Elder Uncle Badger Bates and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) archaeologist Dan Witter within a road cutting as erosion exposed the skeleton. Barkindji custodian Dave Doyleand and Elder Barb Quayle worked alongside the team during the analysis and excavation requested by the Menindee Aboriginal Elders Council. Elderlders guided the care of the remains throughout the research, including smoking ceremonies at the beginning of the excavation to honor their departed ancestor.

Excavating a 1,000-year-old dingo

The male dingo was deliberately buried sometime between 963 and 916 years ago within a midden along the river. It was about four to seven years old, and his heavily worn teeth suggest a long life spent hunting.
Interestingly, the dingo had several healed injuries, including a broken lower leg and broken ribs. Based on the injuries, the dog may have been kicked by a kangaroo while hunting. This shows that the dingo likely survived with prolonged care by the Barkindji people.
“This confirms these traditions were much more widespread than we once thought,” added study co-author Dr. Loukas Koungoulos, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Western Australia and research associate at the Australian Museum. “Dingoes like this garli weren’t simply tolerated around camps. They were tamed, lived with people and were embedded in daily life.”
Return to Country of the garli, which can be seen lying on paperbark on the table. Left to Right: Dr Amy Way, Aunty Cheryl Blore, Aunty Patsy Quayle, Uncle Badger Bates, Dr Sam Player, Dr Rebecca Jones, Aunty Evelyn Bates, Dr Loukas Koungoulos, Dave Doyle and Aunty Barb Quayle. CREDIT: Australian Museum.
When the dingo died, he was buried in a midden that appears to have been built right before the burial or at the same time People kept adding to it for hundreds of years after death. Barkindji Elders say that these ongoing additions formed part of a “feeding” ritual that honored the dog as an ancestor and that the site was maintained across multiple generations. After the analysis, the dingo’s remains were returned to Country. In Indigenous contexts, the word Country is capitalized to include the physical land and deep spiritual, cultural, and social dimensions of the area that are integral to identity and heritage.
“This research reinforces what Barkindji people have always known,” Dr Way said. “These relationships with animals, ancestors and Country were deep, deliberate and ongoing.”

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Laura Baisas

News Editor

Laura is Popular Science’s news editor, overseeing coverage of a wide variety of subjects. Laura is particularly fascinated by all things aquatic, paleontology, nanotechnology, and exploring how science influences daily life.

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The remains of 1,000-year-old dingoes provide significant archaeological evidence illuminating the profound relationships between the Barkindji people and wild dogs. These findings suggest that the dingoes were not merely tolerated but were deliberately cared for, injured, and ritually buried by their ancestors. The Barkindji ancestors deliberately buried the dingoes along the Baaka River, approximately eight hundred miles west of Sydney, sharing a communal existence with the wild dogs, who were known by the Barkindji as garli. During the burial process, the people constructed a midden, or a site for organic material, and this site was maintained by adding river mussel shells for hundreds of years following the dog's death, a practice that archaeologists suggest marks a scientifically documented post-death feeding ritual.

Dr. Amy Way, a co-author on the study, emphasized that treating the dingoes with the same care and respect accorded to human ancestors, such as mothers and elders, indicates that these animals were deeply valued and loved within the Barkindji culture. The burial site was discovered in 2020, and the excavation and analysis were carried out with the guidance of Barkindji custodians and elders, who oversaw the process, including smoking ceremonies to honor their departed ancestor. The male dingo was buried between 963 and 916 years ago, estimated to be four to seven years old, and exhibited several healed injuries, including a broken lower leg and ribs, which are hypothesized to have resulted from interactions, such as being kicked by a kangaroo while hunting.

This evidence refutes earlier assumptions that the dingoes were simply tolerated around settlements. The ongoing additions to the midden after death suggest that the site was part of a sustained "feeding" ritual that honored the dog as an ancestor and was maintained across multiple generations. This research reinforces the long-held understanding among the Barkindji people that their relationships with animals, ancestors, and Country were deep, deliberate, and ongoing. Ultimately, the discovery underscores the intricate and embedded nature of the connection between the Barkindji people and their animals, illustrating a history of profound, deliberate interaction with the natural world.