Archaeologists in Jordan have excavated a burial ground dating back around 16,500 years. One of the graves included, along with a human skeleton, a fox skull. A second grave included other bones from the same fox. The archaeologists determined that what probably happened was that the human was originally buried with the complete fox skeleton. For whatever reason, the human skeleton was later moved to another grave site, with most of the skeleton (but not the skull). So, was the fox a pet? Was it something that the human wanted near him in the afterlife?
The accepted wisdom is that dogs were first domesticated in the Middle East around 15,000 years ago.
"Might Pleistocene Fido Have Been a Fox?" http://scienceblogs.com/thoughtfulanimal/2011/02/might_pleistocene_fido_have_be.php?utm_source=nytwidget
