Janus Pannonius Múzeum Évkönyve 14-15 (1969-70) (Pécs, 1974)

Régészet - K. Zoffmann, Zs.: Anthropological Analysis of the Cemetery at Zengővárkony and the Neolithical Lengyel Culture in SW-Hungary

54 ZS. К. ZOFFMANN szapolgár—Bodrogkeresztur — NEMESKÉRI 1956) and the non-published (Budakalász) neolithic-eneolithic and Copper Age series in Hungary, the series of Zengővárkony, notwithstanding its fragmentary condition, is still the most representative of the prehistoric Transdanubian populations and its study leads to a better understanding of the anthropologically so little known Lengyel culture.

1 # * * • The skeletons at our disposal for anthropologic studies are mostly incomplete. The skulls are very fragmentary, warped and in many cases previous attempts of reconstruction with various adhesives have affected badly even the originally well-preserved skulls. Consequently out of 25 male and 28 female skulls, 9 respectively 7 skulls were not fit for measurements. In the case of the facial skeletons the proportion is even worse. From the postcranial skeletons often only the long bones could be saved. The representative values of the individual skeletons are shown on Table 7. The mean quantitative value of the series is 0,38, its mean qualitative value 0,33. In two cases (graves 305 and 339) the sexing and exact estimation of age had to be omitted given the very bad state of preservation of the material. The mean representative value of the sexing in this series is 0,61 for males and 0,62 for females. The mean values of sexualisation (+ 1Д0 for males and —0,71 for females) indicate the expressive sexual dimorphism observed in this series.

2 The repartition of the skeletons of the Inf.Juv. age-groups and of the male and female skeletons according to the burial groups as re1 In the present work the sexing was done with the method of ERY—

KRALOVÁNSZKY—NEMESKÉRI (1963), the estimation of age with that of SCHRANZ (1959). JOHNSTON (1961) and NEMESKÉRI— HARSÁNYI—

ACSÁDI (1960). The measurements and the determination of indexes and morphologic characters were based on the work of MARTIN—

SALLER (1957—66), the taxonomic analysis on the works of LIPTÄK (1962) and CHOCHOL (1964). 2 J. DOMBAY's data (1939, 1960) concerning the age and sex of bone material of certain graves disagree with the results of the anthropologic study. — The difference in the text (DOMBAY 1939) relative to grave 45 (child aged 6—8 years contrary to the female skeleton aged between 27—34 years registered as from the grave 45 under the inventory number 54,7.) may be explained by the confusion of the material before the inventory was made. — The difference in the sexing is even more frequent which makes the sexing value of the grave furniture in the cemetery of Zengővárkony, as defined by J. DOMBAY, rather questionable (stone axe, jewelry, etc.). presented in Table 1, and the distribution according to age and sex of Table 2, show a very great disproportion (the Inf. age-group is represented by only four cases) and an epually great inconsistency in the preservation of the anthropological material. It makes every demographic analysis practically impossible.

3 Morphological and Metrical Analysis Brain Case : in norma verticalis the skulls are spheno-pentagonoid, in males long and mediumlong, narrow or medium-broad, their height varies from very high to medium-high; in females the skulls are medium-long, narrow and high-medium-high. The index of the skull is in both sexes mostly dolichocran; in two male and one female skulls we found brachycrania (99, 355, 88a). The forehead is in most cases narrow or medium-broad, compared to the maximal breadth of the skull it is eury-metriometope. In norma occipitalis the skulls are dome-shaped, their height varies in the males between very high and medium-high, in the females between high and medium-high. The breadth-height index indicates in both sexes mainly acrocrania. In norma lateralis the skull is in both sexes either a high, unbroken arch or, in the case of relatively lower skulls, a flat and longish vault with a characteristic flatness in the Lambdaregion. The male skulls are distinctly hypsicrane, in female skulls we may also notice orthocrania. — The external occipital protuberance is rather weakly developed in both sexes; the 3 When analysing the series coming from the graves, I added to them one sporadic skull found in one of the dwelling-pits of the Zengővárkony settlement (inv. no. 54.59.) and two female skulls (inv. no. 67.4.1. and 70.2.1.) which were declared by J. DOMBAY, without any nearer definition, as coming from Zengővárkony. The skull and postcranial skeleton coming supposedly from „grave 99." under the inv. no. 54.17. belong in fact to two individuals: on Tables I listed the male skull under grave number "99", the female postcranial skeleton under the inv.no

. "54.17." Grave 368 was, according J. DOMBAY, disturbed previously during the groundwork of a dwelling-pit, the postcranial skeleton was lying partly in a post-hole, partly beside it, the skull lay on the pelvis. The anthropologic examination revealed that the skull belonged to a male, the skeleton bones to several different individuals (Juv., Mat. female, etc.). The preserved skeletons come mostly from double or triple burials, but only in one single case were both skeletons of the same grave (grave 88 — inv. no-s 54.12. and 54.60.) entered together into the collection of the museum (the child skeleton found in the same grave was not preserved). In one case (grave 319. inv.no

. 54.37) the bones of a female skeleton was preserved together with Inf. I. skeleton-fragments, although in the description of the grave by J. DOMBAY no mention is made of a double burial.