The Kuri in prehistory : a skeletal analysis of the extinct Māori dog

Abstract

Skeletal remains of the prehistoric New Zealand dog, the kuri, are frequently recovered from archaeological sites. Despite their relative ubiquity only one major study, and the last for twenty five years, has been conducted. That work provided limited anatomical and osteometric information and concluded that the kuri population was homogenous through space and across time.

This study set out to provide a more detailed skeletal description and to investigate the question of population homogeneity by examining kuri skeletal material from five museums and two university anthropology departments. Metric and non-metric data was collected from a total of thirty seven archaeological sites from throughout New Zealand.

Variation within the population was established by comparing coefficients of variation across a number of variables. A program of univariate and multivariate analysis was carried out to examine spatial and temporal variation.

Results showed that the appendicular skeleton of the kuri has the highest levels of variation. Smaller limb shaft dimensions of late prehistoric kuri are thought to be due to a reliance on insufficient quantities of marine foods. Tooth wear analysis of late prehistoric dogs showed that they had severe tooth wear compared to 'Archaic' dogs.