Janus Pannonius Múzeum Évkönyve 30-31 (1985-1986) (Pécs, 1987)

Régészet - Vörös István: The animal remains from the Roman imperial period of Kővágószőlős

244 ISTVÁN VÖRÖS of the peristyle)! On the evidence of this quantity it could be established that the animal bones, collected from the other rooms and the vicinity of the villa (?), had been accumulated in the peristyle. Some of the bones coming from the so-called region M

/2, the E corridor part of the peristyle, exhibited traces of burning. In the peristyle, most of the animal bones were found in the E part of the circular corridor (306 pieces); the central courtyard yielded 276 pieces, ant the W part 112 pieces. It was rather intriguing to find that while the distribution of the bones of the three main domestic animals — the cattle, the small ruminants and the pig — was almost identical in the peristyle, their respective topographical distribution was considerably divergent; the central courtyard has yielded mainly cattle remains, while pig and sheep prevailed in the E part of the circular corridor. The number of horse bones was inconsiderably small, and the same applied to the dog and cat remains. 6 of the 8 bones coming from hunted animals also came to light in the E part of the circular corridor. Wings (Tables 3. 4.) The number of the animal bones yielded by the E and W wings, each extending over a 150 sq m area, widely differed: 227 pieces were found in the E wing, while only 68 pieces came to light in the W wing. The skeletal remains and the skull of a large dog (SK 1) and the bones without skull of a small dog (SK 2) were found lying on the floor in the N—NW corner of room J in the E wing. An incomplete skeleton of a cat was also found in the vicinity. The skeletons can be dated by the coin also recovered from the floor: 365 A.D. (№ 108). The skeletal remains of 5 hunted animals (red deer, roe deer, wild boar, fox, brown hare) could be identified in the E wing (Table 3. 4.). The basic area of the N wing was the largest in the villa: 320 sq m, offering 315 pieces of animal bones, some of which exhibited traces of burning on the surface. 50 pc of these bones could be identified as coming from cattle, and the number of horse bones was also compara vitely large. The portico and the two apses (ca. 150 sq m) in the S part of the villa have yielded altogether 104 pieces of animal bones (Table 3. 4.). These bones were recorvered from the upper layer of the debris filling in the rooms, with the majority accumulated in the W end of the portico (H/2). The distribution of the bones according to the findspots was as follows: 45.6 pc of the cattle bones were discovered in the wings, while the peristyle has yielded 31.0—32.8 pc of the small ruminant and pig bones, respectively. The bones of the latter species represented only 11.7—27.8 pc of the aaimal remains hit upon in the wings. Distribution of the bones according to species: cattle — 40 pc, pig — 30 pc, small ruminants — 21.5 pc. The bones coming from hunted animals (3.3 pc) outnumbered those identified as horse bones (2.7 pc). I/B. The vicinity of the villa — 3—4th century A.D. (Table 5.) The 4th century infilling in the bath-house adjoining the villa in the SE contained comparatively few animal bones (37 pieces) — of these, the remains of pigs prevailed. The —35—40 cm thick 4th century infilling in the corridor at the SW corner of the villa has yielded 149 pieces of bones, mainly those of cattle and pig. 574 pieces of animal bones were found in the approximately 700 sq m area N and E of the villa (59 pc in the E area, 41 pc in the W area). The bone material was levelled up at a depth of —50—60 cm. In the settlement layers outside the villa, and especially in those in the E wings intermixed with 3rd century articles, the comparatively few pig bones (22.12 pc) were outnumbered by the cattle bones (47 pc). (Table 2.5.). The majority of the ass bones come from the blocks situated N of the villa and also from the area of the bath-house. The E blocks have yielded bones of red deer and roe deer, while in the N blocks remains of beaver were discovered. II. The burial vault — 4th century A.D. The burial vault, excavated in 1977, and its vicinity have yielded 157 pieces of animal bones. (Table 1.6.). The incomplete skeleton with skull of a large dog (SK 3) was found lying on the floor of the central corridor (A) of the vault. The other bones were discovered either on the floor or in the rubble covering it. The number of the bones recovered in the area outside the vault (78 pieces) was one less than that found in the vault (79). An incomplete skeleton of a brown hare was uncovered in the former spot. III. Late Roman settlement — 4—5th century A.D. The rescue excavations in 1975 brought to light three pit dwellings, five storage pits and a number of settlement layers among and above them (Table 1.7.)» The number of animal bones coming from the pit dwellings and the settlement layers was approximately equal, and their species distribution was likewise similar, except for the horse bones, which were two times as numerous in the former spots (Table 7.). All these findspots but pit dwelling 3 contained comparatively few bones (4—53 pieces), i.e. these were not primary refuse pits. The total number of animal bones coming from the 4—5th century Late Roman settlement indicates a considerable increase in the number of cattle remains (56 pc !) a remarkable decrease in the number of bones coming from small ruminants (10 pc!), and a slight decrease in the number of pig remains (20,8 pc) over the respective in the material coming from the 4th century A.D. villa (Table 2.3.7.).