Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. Az István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 23. 1984-1985 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1987)

Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Choyke, A. M. – Bartosiewicz László: Animal exploitation and its relationship the bone deposition at Lovasberény-Mihályvár. p. 7–18.

be accounted for by poor recovery techniques in addition to possible differences in the way bone was treated before deposition. The leg appears to have been separated at the proximal end of the metapodial (as later observed in the the refuse left behind by modern shepherds) and cooked as a whole. Cooking may have destroyed many of these bones as well. Bone of sheep and goat tends to fragment in much the same way as that of cattle in the sense that the same general parts of the bone survive. On the other hand, whole skulls and long bones are slightly more common, broken diaphyses with one of the epiphyses tend to be more intact and there is much less evidence of destruction by dogs. It is worth remembering that the strength of these smaller bones tends to be proportionally greater than that of their equivalents in larger species (Curry 1962; BONNICHSEN 1979). As in the case of cattle, all the bones show signs of contact with fire. Because of uncertain recovery techniques, the proportion of tiny bones of juvenile and newborn individuals may appear smaller than it actually was. Once again, the young adult category dominates at 57% of the total age identifiable sheep/goat bone, followed by 33% sub-adult, 7.4% mature and only 1.5% juvenile. The sub-adult age group in sheep and goat is much larger than in cattle, perhaps indicating culling of the male lambs when they reach optimal carcass weight. Domestic pig. The next important domestic animal to be considered is pig. This species will be touched upon briefly because it is only rarely that its bones are made into tools. No such implements occur at Lovasberény-Mihályvár. The most probable explanation that has been put forward (В ö к ö n y i, personal communication) is that pig bone is so much greasier than that of other animals. To be used as a tool even the few appropriate pig bones require much more preparation than otherwise needed for the bones of other species. It is suggested that these bones, especially the long bones, also tend to have a special morphological trait, a twist around their long axis, which would make them less suitable for tool manufacture. The metapodials, so important in tool making when bovids are exploited, are not fused in pig but occur as 5 separate small bones. Skull fragments make up 8% of the total pig bone at this site. The more durable mandible, maxilla and teeth fragments contribute over 25%. Vertebrae, easily identifiable because of their very short body, are only representative of 1.8% of the pig bone total. These are all fused (adult) and complete. Since pig has a lower age profile than the other domestic species perhaps the more fragile sub-adult vertebrae were destroyed beyond identifiability (the attachment between the corpus and arcus vertebrae is particularly sensitive) by buthering, cooking and natural destructive processes. The early fused and tougher glenoid process of the scapula makes up 9% of the total. The pelvis is always fragmented and comprises 5%. Ribs are sometimes hard to recognize because of smiliarity to those from small ruminants. The more resistant distal end of the humerus is represented at 9%. Femur is chiefly represented by distal ends at 5%. The destruction of the proximal end may be linked to the smashing of the joint at the acetabulum during disarticulation of the hind leg. The strong radius and ulna make up 17% although the distal end is rarely found. The tibia and strong fibula of this species are frequently present in the faunal sample. They make up 7.5% of the pig bones at this site. The distal end of the tibia is especially frequent. Metapodials as small, fragile bones are less often found at 6%. The low percentage of the calcaneus and astragalus (as opposed to those of cattle) at 3% may to do with partial recovery due to small size and cooking the pig knuckle, a widely appreciated delicacy even today. The even smaller phalanges make up only 1.5%. Although one-eighth of the overall bone sample at this site is made up of pig bones, no tools are made from skeletal remains of this species. Horse. Horse bone (6.9%) tends to be much less fragmented than the bone of cattle, sheep/goat or pig. Of the few bones found, almost all are from the lower limbs, that is, metapodials and first phalanges. Many are whole, unburned and not gnawed. The general impression is that horse, unlike other domesticates, was slaughtered off site, and if the meat was utilized, it was removed by defleshing the skeleton at the spot. Thus, only the skin with attached distal segments of the limbs was brought back to the settlement (Daly 1969). Compared with earlier periods horse bone is rarer at Middle Bronze Age sites. While horse metapodial spurs (rudimentary second or medial metapodials and fourth or lateral metapodials, respectively) and first phalanges are sometimes made into tools, they are not at Lovasberény-Mihályvár. Dog bone. Dog makes up only 2.2% of the total identifiable fragments, or 76 specimens. In general, the bones are unbroken coming mostly from the limb regions and include radius, tibia, and metapodials. There are also a number of vertebrae and four almost complete crania. Bronze Age sites typically have such nearly complete skulls on them (В ö к ö n yi, personal communication). There are also several complete mandibles. The majority of the bones come from the skeleton of a juvenile individual which included the vertebrae, forelegs and skull. Most of the dog bone, however, is from mature individuals. Red deer. There are 195 red deer bones comprising 5.2% of the sample. The majority of these (64%) come from 127 antler fragments, however. It has already been pointed out that such antler may be gathered and so is only an indirect indication at best of the presence of this species in the environment surrounding the site. On the other hand, red deer may have been hunted for antler specifically. Other bones include a number of mandible and ramus fragments broken like those of cattle, fragments of the atlas and axis which are distinguishable from cattle and pelvis acetabulum fragments. Of the long bones there are several fragments of the distal humerus, mostly proximal radius with one distal fragment, a few distal femur fragments and numerous tibia diaphysis splintrs. There are several metacarpal and metatarsal fragments, but the majority of the numerous metapodial fragments are from the easily recognizable indented ventral diaphyses of these bone parts. There are three carpal bones and a number of first and second phalanges as well. Roe deer. Roe deer is represented at 2.2%, almost exclusively by antler fragments, followed by mandible and metapodial fragments. Wild pig, hare, rodents, bird and fish bones are all represented by only a very few bones each. 10