Volume 13
Issue 4
Biology
JOURNAL OF
POLISH
AGRICULTURAL
UNIVERSITIES
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume13/issue4/abs-16.html
MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL DOG SKULLS FROM POMERANIA ALLOWING FOR FOREHEAD POSITION INDEX AND DORSAL NOTCH OF THE FORAMEN MAGNUM
Piotr Baranowski
Department of Animal Anatomy,
West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Poland
ABSTRACT
The study aimed at analysis of the metric traits of historic dog skulls allowing for the value of forehead position index as well as the presence or the lack of dorsal notch in the foramen magnum. Examinations included 25 bone remnants of the head skeleton of dogs coming from archaeological sites, dated back to the time period between 9th and the 14th century, which were divided into two groups – short-snout skulls and medium-snout skulls. 48 metric traits of the neurocranium and the splanchnocranium and the nuchal surface of these skulls, as well as their cranial capacity, were estimated. 11 cranial indices were estimated and correlation coefficients were calculated between selected metric traits as well as correlations between some selected cranial indices and metric traits in relation to the area of the foramen magnum, its height and breadth and foramen magnum index. Analysis of the estimated values characterising the nuchal surface of skulls under examination allowed also determination of the degree of occipital dysplasis in the examined material. The carried out examination showed no influence of forehead position index on the value of examined traits.
Key words: archaeozoology, dog, skull index, dorsal notch of the foramen magnum.
Piotr Baranowski
Department of Animal Anatomy,
West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Poland
Doktora Judyma 14, 71-466 Szczecin, Poland
Phone: (+0048) 914496760
email: Piotr.Baranowski@zut.edu.pl
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