Archaeologists recently uncovered the remains of a remarkably well-preserved dog from ancient Rome – and the discovery highlights the prevalence of ritual sacrifice in antiquity.
The excavation findings were announced by SOLVA Archaeology Service, a government-affiliated organization in Belgium, on March 21. (See the video at the top of this article.)
Archaeologist Arne Verbrugge of Flanders, Belgium, told Fox News Digital that the excavation took place at a former ancient Roman regional center, called a vicus, in the village of Velzeke.
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Pictures show the dog’s mouth largely intact; several teeth were retained, as well as its entire skeleton. The creature was found under a stone floor that aided its preservation, Verbrugge said.
“Most of the bone we find in our region from the Roman period is already heavily decayed,” he said. “In certain contexts such as wells or ditches, the conservation is slightly better.”
He added, “Because the dog was buried under a foundation of highly calcareous sandstone, the remains are preserved quite well.”
Dogs were used in “various ritual practices” in Roman times, the archaeologist said – even considered the “guardian” of a deceased human’s grave. The animals were often ritually killed to guide a deceased individual’s journey to the afterlife.
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But it appears the recently found dog was actually sacrificed for a building, rather than a human – which is a rare find in Belgium.
“From [the Roman scholar] Varro’s work ‘De Re Rustica,’ it appears that dogs were sometimes used in rituals to purify land and houses,” Verbrugge said.
“For the building sacrifice of Velzeke, it is likely that before they wanted to erect the building, they first ‘purified’ the site.”
He said that “a relationship with ‘purification’ also appears from the practice of sacrificing dogs (and other animals) at the festival of the Lupercalia in honor of Faunus – associated with fertility and purification – as mentioned by Plutarch.”
It appears the recently found dog was actually sacrificed for a building.
The stone building that the dog was buried under likely had some important purpose, Verbrugge said.
This was the first building-related dog sacrifice found in Flanders, though similar instances have been discovered in France and the United Kingdom.
“It is possible that the building was larger, but the foundations are not well-preserved everywhere,” Verbrugge said.
“Stone foundations are not common in the Roman period for this region, and they testify to a certain status of the building. They are only found in villas and public buildings with military, administrative or religious functions.”
He also said, “The presence of a stone building indicates an important building on the site.”
The remains of the dog, which were initially studied at the excavation site, will undergo further testing, though Verbrugge noted that the exact breed of the dog is lost to time.
“Once the remains are washed, the bones themselves will be examined again,” Verbrugge said.
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“Perhaps certain things can still be deduced from this, such as cause of death, diseases, age, gender and the like. We cannot assign this animal to a specific ‘breed,’ as [creating] specific breeds is a fairly recent practice.”
Archaeologists also found a number of other artifacts at the site – including the bones of a different dog, the remains of a young pig, around 33 intact drinking cups and a bronze bowl, though Verbrugge characterized those discoveries as settlement waste or litter rather than ritual offerings.
“The finds testify to a rich culture at this place, based on, among other things, imported luxury pottery, jewelry and even some silver coins,” he said.
“It is striking that the pits often also contain slag or fragments of oven walls, indicating artisanal activities in the immediate vicinity. At one point, ritual or religious activities were carried out on part of the excavation site.”
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