'Well-preserved' 5,000-year-old dog buried with bone dagger unearthed in ancient bog

The discovery, announced by Arkeologerna, a Swedish archaeological consultancy, occurred around a site near Järna, southwest of Stockholm.

"Several thousand years ago, the 3,500-square-meter [37,700-square-feet] area looked very different," the release said.

"At that time, the bog was a shimmering lake used for fishing."

Officials described the dog as a "large and powerful male." He was between three and six years old when he died.

Archaeologists believe the dog was placed in a bag or container with stones and deposited about 100 to 130 feet out into the lake.

Linus Hagberg, project manager of the excavation, told Fox News Digital his team is still in the process of analyzing the remains, which they hoped would shed light on when the dog lived and what he ate.

"Dog burials from early Neolithic times are very rare," said Hagberg. 

"A couple of thousand years earlier, during the Mesolithic, dog burials appear on burial grounds and on settlements, but they were not common in those days either."

Researchers believe that the dog's skull was crushed when it died, as opposed to being crushed during the burial.

"The most surprising and unexpected event [of the excavation] was the finding of the deposited dog remains," he said. "Without a doubt."

Archaeologist Arne Verbrugge told Fox News Digital that the burial, which was found in Belgium, was preserved "quite well," thanks to the calcareous sandstone under which it was buried.