A Novel Approach to the Identification of Dog Breeds in Highland Chiapas, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances in Zooarchaeological Methods" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The utilization of dental morphology for the identification of different dog breeds in archaeological contexts has recently emerged as a promising new avenue for zooarchaeological methodologies, particularly in cases differentiating between coated and hairless breeds. Recent zooarchaeological studies from the Early Postclassic period (ca. AD 1000) site of Moxviquil in Chiapas, Mexico, placed the ancient hairless Xoloitzcuintli breed in the Mexican highlands for the first time based on observable dental anomalies tied to the hairless condition. The Xolo presents a diagnostic dental phenotype, Canine Ectodermal Dysplasia, that is characterized by missing permanent maxillary and mandibular premolars and reduced cusp numbers on other molar teeth—a genetic condition resulting from a mutation on the FOXI3 gene, which codes for the development of the jaw, teeth, inner ear, and hair. The present study outlines a novel approach utilizing photomicrographs and MicroCT scan landmark studies in addition to standard morphometrics and comparative samples to establish a series of landmarks on canid dental elements useful for differentiating archaeological dogs in the Maya area to breed level. It incorporates scanned elements from the Moxviquil sample with new specimens from the site of Tenam Puente, another highland Early Postclassic settlement.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Advances in Zooarchaeological Methods   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36567.0