Folia archeologica 41.

Vörös István: Kutyaáldozatok és kutyatemetkezések a középkori Magyarországon I.

KUTYAÁLDOZATOK A KÖZÉPKORI MAGYARORSZÁGON 145 The aim and frames of my paper do not make possible to reconstruct that complex role of dog and of wolf which was played by these animals in the pagan beleifs of Hungarians in an overall analysis comprising history, philology, ethnography, ethics and comparative history of religions.

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1 It would require the thorough critical analysis of Early Christian sources, ethnographic parallels, the archeological record, the archaic elements of our pagan religion preserved in oral folk traditions. This reconstruction attempt which deals with the direct and indirect evidences of the cult of the dog and of wolf could hint at and detect only a narrow sphere of the pagan beleifs of the Hungarians. The theme needs further systematic studies and the completing of an independent paper. It is possible to determine the species and types of the now available 32 dog skeletons and 23 separate dog skulls ( + a single wolf skull) found in cemeteries and settlements from the 10

t

h till the 13

t

h century. Different dog species well distinguishable even on the basis of their bones could be identified in the dog representations of Medieval works of art and of the chronicles and the two groups of records could be compared with each other. By this complex osteological, cynological and iconographical studies it would be possible to determine the species and utilization of dogs of the Hungarians. István Vörös 10 Folia