Radiocarbon AMS dating of Holocene wolf (Canis lupus) remains from Greenland

• Published in: The Holocene
• Main Authors: Bennike, Ole, Meldgaard, Morten, Heinemeier, Jan, Rud, Niels
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1994
• Subjects: Paleontology; Earth-Surface Processes; Ecology; Archeology; Global and Planetary Change; Ellesmere Island; Greenland; Canis lupus; North Greenland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095968369400400111; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/095968369400400111

Radiocarbon AMS dating of seven polar wolf (Canis lupus) remains from east and north Greenland and one from Ellesmere Island document the presence of this large carnivore in Greenland at around 6800, 1600, 800 and 500 BP, corresponding to calibrated ages of 5620 BC, AD 530, AD 1260 and AD 1420. Three of the remains yielded modem ages. These results demonstrate the presence of the wolf in Greenland since the early mid-Holocene and it is argued that it was probably present during most of the Holocene. The dates are important for a proper understanding of the faunal and environmental history of Greenland.