A ROMAN DOG FROM RIVANAZZANO TERME

The most recent acquisition to enrich the collections of the Civico Museo Archeologico di Casteggio e dell’Oltrepò Pavese – MAC is a very special find: a dog dating back to Roman times.

The bone remains of the small animal were discovered during the 2020 archaeological excavation campaign, directed by Prof. Stefano Maggi and his team, on behalf of the University of Pavia (Staffora Valley Project), under concession from the Lombardy Archaeological Superintendency. The investigations conducted by UniPv had begun in 2015 in the localities of Cascina Boarezza first and Cascina Isola Felice later (Municipality of Rivanazzano Terme), bringing to light some rural settlement complexes dating back to Roman times. It will be precisely one of these contexts that will yield the bone remains of the small dog recently exhibited in the Museum.

At first, the team of archaeologists believed they had found the remains of a wolf (perhaps having approached the human settlement to prey on livestock) which, as we know, has always lived in our Apennines. Thanks to the collaboration with Dr. Simona Guioli, Palaeontologist Director of the Civic Museum of Natural Sciences ‘Giuseppe Orlandi’ in Voghera and Head of the Sistema Museale d’Oltrepò, to whom the remains were entrusted for careful study, it was instead understood to be a dog.

This was confirmed by the morphology of both the dental arch and the cranial box, which are normally markers for understanding differences between animal genus and species. In addition, some bone fragments were sent to a university laboratory belonging to the University of Bologna, for chronological study using the C14 method.

While awaiting the outcome of these latest scientific examinations, the dog found at Rivanazzano in a Roman-era layer has been resting for a few days in the MAC’s new exhibition module, specially designed for it. The suggestion and the burial and deposition methods investigated by the Pavia archaeologists would suggest a ‘pet’ dog, probably the guardian of an ancient Roman farm at the foot of the Staffora Valley.

(Pictured is Dr Manuela Battaglia at the moment of discovery; photograph courtesy of Dr Eva Vittoria Maino)