possibly stems from an older Ancient North Eurasian belief, as evidenced by similar motifs in Native American and Siberian mythology, in which case it might be one of the oldest mythemes recoverable through comparative mythology. In various Indo-European traditions, the worst throw at the game of dice was named the "dog", and the best throw was known as the "dog-killer". Canine teeth of dogs were frequently worn as pendants in Yamnaya graves in the western Pontic steppes, particularly in the Ingul valley. Wild animals Linguistic evidence suggest that Proto-Indo-European speakers were also in contact with various wild animals, such as red foxes (*wl(o)p), wolves (*wl̩kʷo), bears (*h₂ŕ̩tḱos), red deers (*h₁elh₁ēn), elks (moose) (*h₁ólḱis), eagles (*h₃or), otters (*udrós), snakes (*h₁ógʷʰis), mice (*mūs ; from *mus-, "to steal"), or trouts (*lóḱs). Some of them were featured in mythological and folkloric motifs. Goats draw the chariots of the Norse and Indic gods Thor and Pushan, and they are associated with the Baltic god Perkūnas and the Greek god Pan. The words for both the wolf and the bear underwent taboo deformation in a number of branches, suggesting that they were feared as symbols of death in Proto-Indo-European culture. In Indo-European culture, the term "wolf" is generally applied to brigands and outlaws who live in the wild. Ritual and mythological concepts connected with wolves, in some cases similar with Native American beliefs, may represent a common Ancient North Eurasian heritage: mai-coh meant both "wolf" and "witch" among Navajos, and shunk manita tanka a "doglike powerful spirit" among Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, while the Proto-Indo-European root *ṷeid ("knowledge, clairvoyance") designated the wolf in both Hittite (ṷetna) and Old Norse (witnir), and a "werewolf" in Slavic languages (Serb vjedo-gonja, Slovenian vedanec, Ukrainian viščun). See also Proto-Indo-Europeans Proto-Indo-European homeland Proto-Indo-European language Proto-Indo-European mythology Khvalynsk culture Yamnaya horizon References Notes Citations Bibliography Further reading Carstens, Anne Marie. "To Bury a Ruler: The Meaning of the Horse in Aristocratic Burials." In: Tracing the Indo-Europeans: New Evidence from Archaeology and Historical Linguistics, edited by Olsen Birgit Anette, Olander, Thomas; and Kristiansen, Kristian. Oxford; Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 2019. pp. 165–184. www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvmx3k2h.14. Edholm, Kristoffer af. "Crossing the River of Battle: A Heroic Motif in Ancient Indian and Old Norse Texts" In: Journal of Indo-European Studies (JIES) 49 (2021), 231–250. Fortunato, Laura (2011). "Reconstructing the History of Residence Strategies in Indo-European–Speaking Societies: Neo-, Uxori-, and Virilocality." In: Human Biology: Vol. 83: Iss. 1, Article 7.