These Dogs Help Sniff Out Bones Buried Thousands of Years Ago in Germany

How far back in time can a dog smell?

Dogs are helping German archeologists locate and uncover history.

Highly trained archeo-dogs can smell bone buried up to 45 feet deep. They train for two years and must achieve a 90-percent success rate to get to work, not just on archeological sites, but also with criminal investigators.

Archaeologist Birgit Anzenberger told CBS News, “We are here in an area that was inhabited during the Iron Age, the Halstatt period, i.e. the early Celtic period. We probably have a settlement from that time. And we additionally have the Roman road running through here as an addition."

Dietmar Kroepel, founder Of Archaeo Dogs, told CBS News, “We have cold cases going back 30 years to the modern era and the Middle Age, there's a lot in Germany in the Middle Ages, to the Romans, the Celts, who were here.”

Multiple dogs are sent out, one at a time, during a search.

They give their handlers insight into which places should be searched.

For a dog, a weekend spent sniffing and hunting is a lot of fun, and for the people it’s just as exciting.

“We are not all archaeologists, most are academics, but everyone has a soft spot for ancient cultures. And everyone wants, just as we as people, as archaeologists, somehow want to make the find, so everyone wants their dog to make the find,” Kroepel added.

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