Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) occur in the archaeological record throughout North America but few zooarchaeological studies have examined the extent of wild and domestic canids using multi-site observations across regions. Here, we present a meta-analysis of 172,310 mammal specimens identified from 210 archaeological sites along the Northwest Coast focusing on canid abundance, distribution, and osteological identifications. We show that canids have a ubiquitous geographic distribution and a high relative abundance in particular Northwest Coast sub-regions and that species-level identifications are overwhelmingly of domestic dogs in contrast to ~1% of non-domestic canids (wolf, coyote, and fox). Along with geochemical and genetic data, these zooarchaeological observations indicate a variety of roles for dogs including hunting, companionship, and wool production in a region lacking terrestrial agriculture and domestic livestock. We suggest the frequently applied taxonomic status of ‘indeterminate canid’ underestimates the extent to which domestic dogs played key roles in regional economies and cultural practices. Increased attention to resolving taxonomic ambiguity of canids through improving comparative collections and osteometric datasets will help clarify the non-conventional domestication pathways practiced by Northwest Coast peoples.

国内狗（家犬）发生在整个北美的考古记录中，但是很少有动物考古学研究使用跨地区的多站点观测来检查野生和家养犬科动物的范围。在这里，我们对从西北沿海的210个考古遗址中识别出的172,310个哺乳动物标本进行了荟萃分析，重点是犬科动物的丰度，分布和骨病学鉴定。我们显示，犬科动物普遍分布在地理上，尤其是西北海岸的次区域具有较高的相对丰度，与非本土犬科动物（狼，土狼和狐狸的〜1％）相比，犬种的种类识别绝大多数是家犬）。这些动物考古学发现以及地球化学和遗传数据表明，狗的各种作用包括狩猎，陪伴，和缺乏陆地农业和家畜的地区生产羊毛。我们建议经常使用的“不确定犬科动物”的分类学地位低估了家犬在区域经济和文化习俗中扮演关键角色的程度。通过改进比较收集和骨测量数据集来解决犬科动物的分类学歧义问题，越来越多的关注将有助于阐明西北海岸地区人们的非常规驯化途径。