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    The dogs of Roman Vindolanda: Morphometric techniques in differentiating domestic and wild canids

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    Issue Date
    2016-06
    Author
    Bennett, Deb
    Campbell, Greg
    Timm, Robert M.
    Publisher
    Archaeofauna
    Type
    Article
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    Abstract
    The Roman-era fort–village complex at Vindolanda in northern England, occupied from about A.D. 50 to A.D. 415, has yielded extensive well-preserved remains of the domestic dog, Canis familiaris. Herein, utilizing a novel combination of biostatistical techniques to identify parameters that best differentiate canids, we test the hypothesis that the inhabitants of Vindolanda selectively bred dogs. We also differentiate dog remains from wolves and foxes, similarly-sized canids that occur throughout Eurasia. The Vindolanda dogs are less morphologically diverse than modern dogs but much more diverse than dogs of the British Neolithic and Iron Age. They are as morphologically diverse as dogs excavated from other Romano–British sites, and only slightly less diverse than the whole known population of Roman-era dogs sampled from across Europe and North Africa. Vindolanda dogs thus underwent greater directional selection than expected from natural environmental forces, suggesting that selective breeding rather than random panmixis maintained diversity. The Vindolanda dog sample will make an ideal subject for DNA analysis, since it contains dogs undergoing incipient diversification from dingo-like ancestors. Resúmen: El fuerte-poblado romano de Vindolanda en el norte de Inglaterra fue ocupado desde el 50 al 415 A.D. y ha proporcionado una importante colección de restos bien conservados de perro, Canis familiaris. En este trabajo, utilizando una combinación inédita de técnicas bioestadísticas para determinar los parámetros que mejor diferencian cánidos, verificamos la hipótesis referida a una cría selectiva de perros por parte de los habitantes de Vindolanda. Al tiempo, discriminamos los restos de perros de los de lobo y zorro común, dos especies de cánidos de talla semejante al perro distribuidos por toda Eurasia. Los perros de Vindolanda se encuentran morfológicamente menos diferenciados que sus parientes actuales pero mucho más que sus parientes británicos del Neolítico y Edad del Hierro. Su diferenciación morfológica es igual de amplia que la de los perros procedentes de otros yacimientos romano-británicos y solo ligeramente inferior a la documentada para todos los perros de época romana procedentes de Europa y el Norte de Africa. Por ello, parece que los perros de Vindolanda sufrieron una selección direccional superior a la esperada cuando se asume sólo la existencia de presiones ambientales lo cual sugiere que fue una cría selectiva, y no tanto una panmixis aleatoria de individuos, lo que mantuvo tal grado de diversificación. Los perros de Vindolanda constituyen un grupo ideal para realizar análisis de ADN toda vez que parece incorporan individuos que manifiestan una diversificación incipiente a partir de antecesores con aspecto de dingo.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/21001
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    • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Scholarly Works [1494]
    Citation
    Bennett D., G. Campbell, and R. M. Timm. 2016. The dogs of Roman Vindolanda: Morphometric techniques in differentiating domestic and wild canids. Archaeofauna, 25:79–106.

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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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