Brick with dog paw prints

A footprint impressed in drying clay is a moment frozen in time – a kind of medieval photograph that, centuries later, becomes a valuable scientific source. Artifacts of building ceramics discovered by archaeologists, marked with various impressions and signs, are intriguing subjects of study, revealing unexpected details of everyday life in the past.

 

Researchers interpret these sources using various scientific approaches and interdisciplinary research methods. One such method is the application of traceology in archaeology. By analyzing the footprints of various animals—most often domestic—impressed in building ceramics, much can be learned about both the daily life of the craftsmen and the animals themselves. For example, dog paw prints left in the clay can reveal whether the animal was short- or long-haired, large or small, or if it had limb pathologies or injuries. It’s even possible to determine the animal’s movement speed at the moment the print was made.

 

Among all building ceramic objects, bricks are most commonly found with such imprints. Of the traces left on bricks, dog paw prints make up the majority. In the context of Vilnius city and the territory of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania’s Lower Castle, most bricks with dog paw prints are dated to the 15th–17th or 18th centuries.

 

One such brick, marked with two dog paw prints, was found during archaeological excavations near the eastern and northern wings of the Grand Dukes Palace, in layers of rubble. The brick is made of yellowish clay and measures 31 cm in length, 15.6 cm in width, and 8.9 cm in height. On the surface of the brick—where the dog left its prints—distinct finger drag marks can also be seen. The overlapping of the hind paw print over the front one indicates that the animal was calmly walking at the time.

 

It is likely that this brick was one of thousands purchased around the mid-16th century, during the large-scale palace expansion initiated by Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Sigismund Augustus (1544/1548–1572). The brick was probably used in the construction of the northern wing of the palace.

 

The scope of Sigismund Augustus’s construction efforts is well illustrated in written sources. For example, between 1544 and 1546, a total of 2,442,000 bricks were purchased from various suppliers "for the needs of His Royal Majesty’s buildings in Vilnius" at the cost of 2,437 kapos and 40 groschen (1 kapo = 60 groschen). Moreover, in May–July 1544 alone, nearly 6 kapos of groschen were paid just to the masons.

Archaeological evidence confirms that bricks marked with dog paw prints were not considered defective and were successfully sold or used in construction. Perhaps the enormous demand for bricks led to a more lenient attitude toward such surface imperfections?