A dog’s life and violent death in late Medieval Nicosia, Cyprus

Abstract

Opportunities for high-resolution biographic approaches on animal remains are rare. Such a fortunate opportunity was presented by a dog skeleton recovered from the moat outside Paphos Gate of the medieval walls of Nicosia, Cyprus. The dog met a violent death by means of multiple hits with a large-bladed weapon. The study of the skeleton reveals the dog’s sex, age, body size and health condition. The synthesis of the data amounts to a biography of this unfortunate dog. The skeleton was radiocarbon-dated to the late 16th-early 17th century CE and thus, the results are discussed in the context of the last months of Venetian and early years of Ottoman rule in Cyprus. As for the circumstances of the dog’s death, two main scenarios are considered. One concerns animal brutality during peacetime and the other a casualty of the tumultuous events of the late 16th century, in particular the Ottoman siege and sacking of Nicosia. The biography of the Nicosia dog is integrated into the discussion on the roles of dogs in Frankish, Venetian and Ottoman Cyprus, as well as the eastern Mediterranean.