Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. A Szent István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 26. 1989-1992 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1997)

Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Bartosiewicz László: A Székesfehérvár Bestriary: Animal Bones from the Excavations of the medieval City Wall. p. 133–167.

propor-tioned, but shows no particular morphological characteristics {PL IX). A summarized evaluation of the cranial proportions was carried out by calculating similarity values between each case (five skulls and the set of Roman Period mean values) on the basis of the Czekanowski algorithm {Table XXIX). This formula, developed for clustering purposes in physical anthropology, has already been used in the classification of horse skulls (Skorkowski 1956) as well as in the evaluation of domestic hen bones from Székesfehérvár-Sziget (Bartosiewicz 1982/83). The greatest degree of similarity occurs between the average of the Roman Period sample and the large skull from TurkeveMoricz.

7 Basic formation of the "small" and "large, old" individual also fall close to this average. The old individual and the large neurocranium fragment are both similar to the Túrkeve-Móricz specimen as well. The neurocranium fragment on the other hand, is somewhat separated from the rest of the sample chiefly because of its small width dimensions, while the robustness of the calvarium with the complete viscerocranium appears particularly heavily built in terms of proportions, when compared to the others. In summary one may say that the "small" cranium from this excavation is most similar to the 2nd type of Roman dogs as described by Bökönyi (1984) which to some extent resembles to the "turbary spitz" known from Neolithic sites, even if the basal length of the JM/1 specimen is less than the average of that group. The neurocranium fragment as well as the skull of the old individual correspond best to Bökönyi's 3rd type, although the aboral extension of the crista saggitalis is less marked on the Turkish Period specimens. The calvarium fragment characterized by a flat forehead and width dimensions resulting in considerable robustness does not fit into the TácGorsium typology. Although it seems to fall within the size range of pointers just as the other two "large" skulls from the Turkish Period garbage pit of JM/1, its features are less refined. Its particularly developed premolar region and narrowing snout may indicate that this specimen represents a cranial formation which corresponds to that of today's large Hungarian herding dogs (especially the kuvasz). Should this be a valid analogy, the relatively small size and flat profile of this calvarium indicates that it may have belonged to a female of this type. Cat The Turkish Period cat humerus {PIX.) found at JM/1 is an additional proof that this animal was kept during the Turkish occupation of Székesfehérvár. Cat bones are 7 Similarity values in this calculation range between 0 (lack of similarity) and 1 (full identity in terms of the variables observed). common in the refuse pits of medieval towns and castles (Bökönyi 1974). Since no evidence suggests that cats were eaten at that time, one may assume that this single bone belongs to a pet just as with the set of articulated skeletal elements which were recognized in the faunal metarial from the medieval cess-pool át Székesfehérvár-Sziget (Bartosiewicz 1983b). The bones of dogs and probably those of the crane also support the hypothesis that this pit did not simply contain leftovers from butchering and meat consumption. The presence of cattle and sheep horn cores also contributes evidence in this direction. Domestic birds Only relatively few bones of poultry have been recovered from the three sites under discussion. A single femur of domestic hen was found in the faunal material of the Turkish Period garbage pit at site JM/1, and four other fragments from KL/2 and AE/2 offer evidence that this bird was exploited during both of the major periods under discussion in this paper. These pieces, however, do not demonstrate anything but the mere presence of this species. This is not a surprising observation since during the study of 13rd-14th century poultry bones from the Buda Castle, Bökönyi (1963) concluded that size variability in that body of data on domestic hen could already have been a sign of selective breeding. Undoubtedly, conscious selection would have modified this domestic animal quite effectively because of its short generation interval and tolerance to inbreeding (Horn 1976, 228). Contemporary remains of long bones from hen found in a medieval cesspool at Székesfehérvár-Sziget also resemble improved breeds of the Period of Roman Empire in terms of at least the size of meat carrying bones of the wing (Bartosiewicz 1982/83). Bones of geese are represented only in the Turkish Period faunal material. The size of these fragments is large enough to indicate relatively advanced domestication, which is also supported by written sources that bear mention of geese being selected for white color as early as the 13th century in Hungary (Matolcsi 1975). Thus, although bones of this bird are missing from the medieval faunal material brought to light during the excavation of the Székesfehérvár city wall, as opposed to domestic duck (Bartosiewicz 1996), the exploitation of these birds should not be regarded as particularly diagnostic of Turkish Period animal keeping. A turkey sternum is probably the most interesting domestic bird bone find in the whole material {PIXI; Komárek 1979, 126, 137; Selstam-Selstam 1982). It also came to light in the Turkish Period garbage pit of JM/1

. The discovery date of America, where this species originated, might have offered a realistic post quern dating. The question, howerer, is when these birds were in fact 141