ARCHAEOLOGISTS digging on the site of a Roman settlement in Liss have discovered the skeleton of a dog they believe was offered as a gift to the gods 1,600 years ago. Archaeozoologist Sheila Hamilton-Dyer, told The Herald it was not uncommon to find dogs at the bottom of Roman wells and “Brutus” , as the Liss volunteers have christened the remains, was probably placed in the well by Roman settlers. “Dogs are found at the bottom of Roman wells on about half of the sites excavated,” she told The Herald. “It’s probably associated with the fact that they were associated with death, and I think this dog was already dead when it was thrown or placed in the well, judging by the ‘floppy’ way it was lying.” She said she believed it might have been placed there as a gift of thanks, for protection and to mark the end of the life of the well. “We know the well was finished, because the wall had already collapsed and the dog would have been put there as a messenger to the underworld.” Ms Hamilton-Dyer said the dog was male and stood about 64 centimetres to the shoulder - a bit shorter and slightly more well built than a modern greyhound. “It may have been a hunting hound. It was adult, but relatively young, and had in the past had a couple of minor injuries, but nothing too serious.” Ms Hamilton-Dyer has also established what Brutus had had to eat before he died, as she discovered chewed up bits of beef bones around his girth. Dogs in Roman world, she told The Herald, were valued as companions, guards and hunters, but were also associated with the afterlife, the underworld, death and healing. Muntham Court in Sussex had many dogs in a well associated with a first-century shrine, and at Staines, 16 dogs were found in a well with a Samian bowl. The dig, organised by the Liss Archaeological Group, will be open from 10 am to 4 pm tomorrow (Saturday) and then it will be covered over until next September.