Remains of captive carnivores were found in the excavation of what was once one of the largest cities in the world.
The puma, eagle, and wolf remains were found in Teotihuacan, which was one of the largest and most powerful urban cities in the world between the first and sixth centuries A.D.
Scientists say in the PLOS ONE study that the puma, eagle, and wolf remains appear to push back the date that humans first began to use carnivores to establish their place on the social ladders some 1,000 years.
Carefully inspecting the bones, the authors of the study were able to find bone breaks and evidence of stress characteristic to captive animals—for example, three eagle skeletons showed stress on the lower part of the legs, where they may have been tied to a perch.
