‘Sick as a dog’: zooarchaeological evidence for pet dog health and welfare in the Roman world

MacKinnon, Michael

doi:10.1080/00438241003673011

Cited by 43 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In archaeological dogs more recent than the Magdalenian, OA of the appendicular skeleton has been described, mainly in medieval (Binois et al . ) and Roman (MacKinnon ) contexts, but hardly ever, as far as we know, in Mesolithic to Iron Age archaeological contexts. One such case is a 7000‐year‐old buried dog at the Anderson site in Tennessee with several signs of trauma such as fractured ribs and dorsal spinous processes and “arthritic development in several body regions” (Morey ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The oldest case yet reported of osteoarthritis in a dog: an archaeological and radiological evaluation

Janssens¹,

Street²,

Miller

et al. 2016

J of Small Animal Practice

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A century ago the remains of a dog skeleton were found in an archaeological double human burial, near Bonn-Oberkassel (Germany). Recent re-examination of the dog remains revealed that they were about 14,500 years old. Based on the growth plates, the animal was considered to be approximately 7·5 months old at the time of death. Based on the minimal humeral diameter, it was calculated that it was approximately 0·47 m tall at the shoulder and weighed approximately 15·7 kg. The right proximal ulna of this skeleton showed osteoarthritis, manifested by an osteophyte of 5×3×1·5 mm at its cranial edge, with no identified primary developmental causes for osteoarthritis. Osteochondritis dissecans, joint incongruity and trauma are possible aetiologies. The left ulna did not reveal any abnormalities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The oldest case yet reported of osteoarthritis in a dog: an archaeological and radiological evaluation

Janssens¹,

Street²,

Miller

et al. 2016

J of Small Animal Practice

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“…The lesions, especially the oral ones, are so extensive that it appears extremely unlikely that this animal would have survived for so long without specific feeding care in the form of soft, specially processed foods. This case is not an isolated one and other such examples, in particular from the Roman period, have been described (MacKinnon 2010). …”

Section: Care Abuse and Mercy Killingmentioning

confidence: 83%

Excavating the history of ancient veterinary practices

Binois

2015

Veterinary Record

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People have lived alongside animals for many centuries, and it can be assumed that they also treated them when they were sick. There are some texts that describe early veterinary care, but details are lacking and medical instruments are hard to come by in archaeological sites. However, as Annelise Binois explains, archaeological findings can provide a lot more information than might be thought, and can start to give a glimpse of the vast history of veterinary medicine.

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“…2,500 years ago , but the very small lap, or toy dogs, appear for the first time, and in large numbers, throughout the Roman Empire ca. 2,000 years ago (e.g, Boessneck and von den Driesch, 1980;Altuna and Mariezkurrena, 1992;Fern andez-Rodriguez, 2003;MacKinnon, 2010). In the Western Mediterranean, the differentiation of dog populations into different phenotypes similar to breeds may have its roots in the Roman period Tagliacozzo, 2000, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zooarchaeological studies aid our understanding of size and morphological variation in Roman Canis (e.g., Altuna and Mariezkurrena, 1992;Colominas, 2015;MacKinnon, 2010). The various anatomical parts are preserved differently in the archaeological record.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although not as variable as extant dogs, greater variability in both size and shape is also well known in dogs from Roman times ca. 2,000 years ago (Altuna and Mariezkurrena, 1992;Colominas, 2015;De Grossi Mazzorin and Tagliacozzo, 2000;MacKinnon, 2010;Peters, 1998). This process probably originated in preceding times, i.e., in the late Iron Age ca.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Roman dogs from the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb – A glimpse into their morphology and genetics

Pires

Detry

Fernández‐Rodríguez

et al. 2018

Quaternary International

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a b s t r a c tIn this study, we integrate osteometric and palaeogenetic data to investigate dog variability in the Roman Empire in Iberia and North Africa. Osteometry was used to distinguish the statusddomestic or wild, of approximately 2000 years old Canis remains and to understand to what extent teeth and long bones varied in dogs in the Roman provinces of Mauretania Tingitana, Lusitania and Tarraconensis. Highthroughput 454-DNA sequencing technology was used to obtain mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from 15 bone and teeth samples. We identified five dog haplotypes from partial sequences of the hypervariable D-loop region. MtDNA haplotypes were grouped into two of the four major clades found in present-day dogs. We detected three clade A haplotypes in 12 samples from Portugal, Spain and Morocco, and a single clade D haplotype in 3 samples from Spain. So far, this is the oldest evidence for the presence of dog clade D in Iberia. It is dated to the late Roman occupation in the 4th-5th cent. AD (ca. 1,600 years ago).Our results confirm the existence of distinct dog morphotypes in Roman times that also harboured distinct genetic lineages. According to our data, dogs from distinct mtDNA lineages (clades A and D) have been continuously bred in the Iberian Peninsula since at least 1600 years ago. Moreover, the sharing of matrilines between dogs from Spain and North Africa may indicate gene flow. Dogs could have been easily transported between these regions by humans along maritime and terrestrial trade routes. These results provide new insights into pre-Roman and Roman domestication practices, confirming selection practices were extensively applied to dogs during the first centuries of our era in the Iberian Peninsula. We show that the greater size variability of teeth length (and consequently cranium) and long bone breadths (and consequently phenotype) of Roman dogs in the Iberian Peninsula, is concomitant with the detection of diverse and rare maternal lineages. This would reflect an intensification of dog breeding and the use of non-local dogs for breeding.

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‘Sick as a dog’: zooarchaeological evidence for pet dog health and welfare in the Roman world

Cited by 43 publications

References 15 publications

The oldest case yet reported of osteoarthritis in a dog: an archaeological and radiological evaluation

The oldest case yet reported of osteoarthritis in a dog: an archaeological and radiological evaluation

Excavating the history of ancient veterinary practices

Roman dogs from the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb – A glimpse into their morphology and genetics

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