Evidence of ancient small-dog breeding in Roman Britannia

[guy]

Strabo (63 BCE - AD 23)wrote in his Geographica (Book IV, Chapter V) that dogs have been a historically vital resource in Britannia:

Quote

The greatest portion of the island [Britannia] is level and woody, although many tracts are hilly. It produces corn, cattle, gold, silver, and iron, which things are brought thence, and also skins, and slaves, and dogs sagacious in hunting; the Kelts use these, as well as their native dogs, for the purposes of war.

Strabo, Geography, BOOK IV.

 

These articles examine the significance of a burial pit for dogs located just southwest of London, at Nescot. These dog remains were part of Roman Britain. 

 

Quote

 

Analysis of the faunal remains revealed that a minimum of 140 dogs had been deposited. Green elaborates, saying, "The shaft likely represented a wide range of different dogs, but the majority were small, and several had chondrodysplasia. This means they would have had disproportionately short limbs to body and head size, like a modern corgi. We also know the Romans had dogs similar to the modern Maltese, which would be a fit for the size of the dogs at Nescot." The Nescot dogs seem to have been relatively well cared for, not only showing few pathologies but those that did display pathologies could, in many cases, be attributed to old age, such as spondylosis deformans (a degenerative condition of the spine), ossified costal cartilage (bonification of the cartilaginous extensions of the ribs) and fusion of the fibula and tibia in some specimens

Based on these findings, the Nescot dogs seemed to have been relatively well cared for and, in some cases, older individuals. Furthermore, based on the lack of cutmarks, it is unlikely they were deposited due to butchery or skinning activities

 

 

2025-03-nescot-dog-insight-romano-british.pdf

 

https://www.sciencenewstoday.org/unraveling-the-mystery-of-the-nescot-ritual-shaft-dogs-sacrifice-and-roman-britain

 

In the quote above, many of the dogs found at Nescot resembled the modern Maltese in size. The modern Maltese is a small dog recognized for its compact build and silky white coat. Typically, these dogs weigh between 4 to 7 pounds (1.8 to 3.2 kg) and stand about 7 to 9 inches (18 to 23 cm) tall.

 

 

Below is a previous post on small-dog breeding in Roman Turkey:

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 05:09 PM by guy