Evidence of small-dog breeding found in Roman Turkey

(Like the dog remains examined, the French bulldog is brachycephalic. The dog remains were of a smaller dog, much like the French bulldog pictured.)

Recent archaeological studies suggest that the Romans were among the first to breed brachycephalic (or flat-faced) dogs. Studies of dog remains in Turkey help confirm the theory.

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The dog remains were found at a dig site in Aydın back in 2007, but were considered too delicate for study at the time—they were put in safe storage instead. In 2021, the team on this new effort retrieved the bones and began a slow study of the bones to learn more about the dog.

Though the specimen was not complete, the research team was still able to determine that it was a dog and that it had been treated well. Many dog remains have been found from Roman times, and because most were used as work animals, most were not well treated. The team identified the dog as a brachycephalic breed, a group that includes flat-faced dogs such as boxers, pugs and chow chows. The find was unique; only one other brachycephalic breed had ever been found before from a place in the Roman Empire, and that was in the ruins of Pompeii. It also marks the oldest known find of a brachycephalic anywhere, suggesting the Romans may have been the first to breed flat-faced dogs.

 

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This study examined a skull of a dog from the Roman period. The skull, obtained during the 2007 excavations, could only be examined in 2021. The skull was visually of a brachycephalic type. Its craniometric measurements were compared with data from modern brachycephalic breeds of Boxer, French Bulldog, and Pekingese. The comparison revealed that the Tralleis dog craniometric measurements fell between those of the French Bulldog and Pekingese dogs. As a result, the skull in question is currently the only example of such as Roman dog in Asia Minor in the west.

https://phys.org/news/2023-04-early-romans-flat-faced-dogs.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X2300144X

Here is a previous thread about dogs in Ancient Rome: