From head to hind: Elucidating function through contrasting morphometrics of ancient and modern pedigree dogs

Abstract

Used together, caliper‐ and geometric‐based morphometric analyses provide complimentary approaches to classifying form and function of archaeozoological remains. Here we apply these analytical tools to the skeletal remains of an ancient male dog unearthed from a rural farm settlement of Roman date near present day Warmington, United Kingdom. Our comparisons of the Warmington Roman dog against the morphological characteristics of modern dog breeds enabled us to establish the former's size and shape. It was of medium stature. Analysis of viscerocrania and neurocrania indicate it falls within the meso‐ to dolichocephalic rankings of modern dogs. The neurocranium shape and the dimensions of its long bones strongly suggest that the Warmington dog shares similarities to modern sight hounds. Historically sight hounds were bred for speed, as necessitated of a hunter that runs down small prey. Our analysis suggests that the Warmington dog was likely bred for, or derived from, Roman hunting stock. By revealing the Warmington Roman dog's form from cranial and postcranial analyses, we shed light on Roman life in one of the furthest outposts of the Roman Empire.

dogs of Roman Vindolanda, Part IV: Large sighthounds and guard and utility dogs

“…However, there is no question whether new kinds of dog arrived in Europe during the late Neolithic (Salvolainen et al 2013), and we find that dogs from southern Turkey, northern Iran, Azerbaijan, and Iraq consistently present the closest morphological comparisons to Vindolanda specimens (Bennett & Timm, 2018). , Phillips et al (2009), andSchoenebeck et al (2019) echo our results in finding strong morphological similarities between Romano-British specimens and modern dog breeds whose origins lie in Asia. Horard-Heerbin et al (2014) and Thalmann & Perri (2018) conclude that dogs of paleolithic Europe were probably partially replaced by dogs arriving from the east, and this view is echoed by linguists who note that livestock with novel genetics might have been introduced into Europe, perhaps more than once from the Neolithic onwards, by human populations migrating from the east (Haak et al, 2015).…”

“…The high position of the junction between frontal, maxilla, and nasal bones in the Warmington dog (Schoenebeck et al, 2019) is not a cause, but may be a reflection, of its relatively short snout.…”

“…These dogs are also distinct in various bodily proportions both from wolves and from the unselected and very ancient type represented by the Australian Dingo (Lüttschwager, 1965;Corbett, 1995;Salvolainen et al, 2002Salvolainen et al, , 2004Smith & Litchfield, 2009;Oskarsson et al, 2011;Bennett et al, 2016;Bennett & Timm, 2016Fillios & Taçon, 2016;Koungoulous & Fillios, 2020; and see Figure 21). Dogs with morphology specialized for hunting, guarding, coursing, or fighting certainly existed in Britain from the late Iron Age onward (Cram, 1973(Cram, , 1978(Cram, , 2000Harcourt, 1974;Clark, 1995Clark, , 2012Phillips et al, 2009;Schoenebeck et al, 2019).…”

“…E, a late Neolithic sighthound from Staines Road Farm, GL 225 (estimated;after Clark, 1996). F, the Warmington sighthound, GL = 191, dated to 50-100 CE (after Schoenebeck et al, 2019). G, the Vindolanda Praetorium sighthound dated to about 250 CE; GL = 190.00.…”

Archaeophenomics of ancient domestic plants and animals using geometric morphometrics : a review

“…Skulls, which are geometrically more complex objects, are studied in 3D, either directly on the specimens using e.g. a Microscribe digitizer (Drake & Klingenberg, 2008;Geiger et al, 2017;Hanot et al, 2017) or through 3D model reconstruction obtained by CT-scanning (Schoenebeck, Hamilton-Dyer, Baxter, Schwarz, & Nussbaumer, 2021) or photogrammetry (dog: (Ameen et al, 2019)). So far, a single study really takes advantage of a CT-scanning technology to analyze the internal structure of the skull that is the inner ear morphometry (Clavel et al, 2021).…”