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Articles

• Onar, Vedat
• Pazvant, Gülsün
• Gezer İnce, Nazan
• Alpak, H.
• Janeczek, M.
• Kızıltan, Z.

This study presents the results of morphometric analysis of a total of 473 skulls ascribed to adult animals were sufficiently complete to allow the measurement of their foramen magnum; and for 472 of them the foramen magnum index could be calculated. The dorsal notch was only seen in the group of mesocephalic dogs where about 17% of all skulls exhibited this feature. The average length of the dorsal notch was found to be 2.59 mm. Not a single skull in the dolichocephalic dog group showed any sign of a dorsal notch. The results of this study show that the dorsal notch in the foramen magnum widely seen dogs of the Middle Ages, and point to a morphological variation.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

foramen magnum, Byzantine dogs, Theodosius harbour, Yenikapı-Istanbul

Corresponding author: onar@istanbul.edu.tr, The authors of this study would like to offer their thanks to Zeynep Kızıltan and Rahmi Asal, Director and Vice Director of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, and to archaeologists Sırrı Ηφmlekηi, Mehmet Ali Polat, and Emre Φncό. We would also like to thank Sόndόz Esra Onar for their expert assistance and patience during this study. This work has been funded by a generous grant from the Turkish Science and Research Foundation TάBİTAK (Project Number: 107O518).

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