Guest Blog by: Volunteers Julie Stewart & Marilyn Kendall

Humans have lived side by side with dogs for thousands of years, finding them useful in a variety of roles, such as hunting, guarding and companionship. We find evidence for Roman dogs on artefacts, such as bowls and tiles, in texts, including the Vindolanda writing tablets, and we also uncover their bones during excavation.  We know that the Romans valued dogs, and selectively bred them for different activities and qualities.

This blog focuses on dog bones found during the 2015-2017 excavations at Vindolanda. These bones are from three different time periods at the fort, ranging from 200-408AD.  Through looking at the bones, we can learn a great deal not only about the lives and deaths of the dogs themselves, but also about daily life at the fort.

171 individual dog bones were identified from a total of almost 10,000 animal bones excavated during this period. Dog bones generally preserve well, due to their high bone density, and their teeth also tend to survive well. On average dogs have 320 bones in their skeleton, the number varying slightly depending on factors like the length of the tail. For comparison, humans have 206 bones. The collection we analysed shows examples of nearly every bone in the dog’s skeleton, the greatest number being jaws and teeth.

Fig 1: Dog Skeleton

What information can we get from dog bones?

Age: Looking at the shape of the bones can help us to work out the age of the dog, since as dogs grow the ends of the bones fuse to the shaft. This occurs at different times for different bones and is usually complete by 2 years of age. Teeth are also helpful in determining the age at which the dog died. Adult dogs have 42 teeth, and most dogs have a full set of ‘adult’ teeth by 8 months. After this the amount of wear of the teeth can give more information about their age, and their diet. 

Fig.2: An example of puppy and adult teeth in two jaws

From the assemblage we analysed, starting from specialist identification by Dr. Ian Smith from Oxford Archaeology North, we can tell that puppies were present in all three periods. Puppies and dogs have been known to be associated with purification ritual in Roman provinces: a closer look on where the puppies came from, and any marks on their bones, can shed some light on whether they died naturally or were used for a sacrifice.

Types of dogs: As we have found many fully fused bones in a range of different sizes, this suggests there were a variety of dog types at Vindolanda, being kept for activities such as hunting, keeping herd animals, or simply being good company.

Fig.3: Same bone, different sizes!

Ceramic tiles were produced on site at Vindolanda, and some of these have been found with dog paw prints embedded in them. These again suggest the presence of a variety of dog types within the fort, and that some of the dogs may have roamed freely.

Fig. 4:  Volunteer Sarah with her find in 2015: a tile with a dog paw print. Next to the paw print, someone has written the word ‘FIDELIS’ (Fido, or Trusty) in the wet clay. The paw print and the writing have likely been left on the tile at the same time, while its fabric was air-drying.

We know that there has been at least one vet at Vindolanda, called Virilis, who lived at the site between A.D. 97 and 105. Some of these dog bones in our collection show evidence of healed fractures and surgical interventions, indicating that many of the dogs were well cared for, and valued by their owners, who entrusted them to the care of a vet when needed. It would have taken many months to train the dogs used for activities like hunting, or herding animals, and so they would have been valuable, quite apart from any attachment between dog and owner.  These bones show no evidence of butchery, showing that unlike most of the other animals at Vindolanda dogs were not eaten by humans or other more important pets. Cats’ bones on the other hand showed some butchery marks in the 4^th century assemblage!

Fig. 5: Writing Tablet 310 - Mentions the Veterinarius Virilius

We know that the human population at Vindolanda changed significantly from the Severan period to the late fourth century. They went from mostly worshipping the pagan pantheon to at least an outward show of Christianity. From a period of conflict, they moved to relative stability, to renewal and radical change in the 5^th century. This assemblage is perfect for investigating what happened to the dog over that time. Given the close relationship between humans and dog, did the dogs stay the same, or did they change too? There is still a lot to learn from the bones!

 

Severan dog bones (AD 200-212): 51 individual bones out of a total of 2157

3^rd century (AD 213-275): 23 individual bones out of a total of 2696

4^th century (AD 300-408): 97 individual bone out of a total of 4732

Our thanks go to Dr. Ian Smith of Oxford Archaeology North for the identification of dogs within our assemblage as part of his wider reporting work.