Two Wolves, One Remote Island, Thousands of Years: Who Brought Them There — and Why Did They Stay?

Long before dogs became humanity’s closest companions, some people may have been living alongside wolves in ways that scientists never imagined.

Researchers have identified the remains of two gray wolves that lived between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago on the tiny Swedish island of Stora Karlsö, deep in the Baltic Sea. Because the island was never connected to the mainland, the animals could not have reached it on their own. The most likely explanation, researchers say, is that prehistoric people transported the wolves there by boat—and may have continued feeding and caring for them after their arrival.

The discovery, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenges the traditional view that wolves disappeared from human settlements once dogs became domesticated. Instead, it hints that ancient communities may have maintained complex relationships with both species for thousands of years.

The wolf bones were originally excavated more than a century ago from Stora Förvar Cave, an archaeological site used by Neolithic and Bronze Age seal hunters and fishers. For decades, researchers debated whether the bones belonged to early dogs or wolves. Modern DNA analysis has now settled the question: the animals were true gray wolves with no detectable dog ancestry.

Their lifestyle, however, tells a different story.

Chemical analysis of the bones revealed that the wolves consumed large amounts of seals and fish—the same foods eaten by the humans who occupied the island. One wolf also showed signs of a serious injury or disease that would likely have made hunting difficult. Its survival suggests it may have depended on people for food and protection.

Researchers also found that the wolves were relatively small, and one individual carried unusually low genetic diversity. While this could have occurred naturally in an isolated population, it also raises the possibility that humans exercised some level of control over breeding or management. The evidence is not strong enough to conclude that these wolves were domesticated, but it points to a relationship far more intimate than previously recognized.

Scientists believe dogs diverged from ancient wolves at least 14,000 years ago, eventually becoming the first domesticated animal. Yet the Stora Karlsö wolves suggest that the story of humans and wolves did not end with the rise of dogs. Instead, prehistoric societies may have continued experimenting with living alongside wolves, creating partnerships that existed outside the path that ultimately led to modern dogs.

The findings add a surprising new chapter to the history of human-animal relationships, revealing that the boundary between wild and domestic may have been far more fluid in prehistory than researchers once believed.

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