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.

first imported to Europe. Pre-Columbian turkey finds from Hungary and other European countries (Bökönyi 1958; Matolcsi 1975) suggest that these birds may first have been brought to the Old World by the Vikings. Although turkey apparently spread very rapidly in Europe, importation of this domestic bird species by the first conquistadors could hardly have reached Hungary in the early 15th century. The mediating role of the invading Turkish forces on the other hand, may not be ruled out in this case, as is confirmed by Hankó (1940) who refers to coeval written sources. Such mediation is unquestionable in the case of a number of domestic crops which originated from America.

8 In light of these arguments the turkey bone find from JM/1 may either illustrate the continuity of pre-Turkish Period (that is pre-Columbian) turkey keeping in Székesfehérvár, or "traditional" Turkish exploitation of this domestic bird species. The association of turkey with Turks themselves is also shown by its English name: The etimology of this word is based on the erroneous belief that these birds originally came from Turkey (Webster 1975, 1665). Shortly after the Turkish Period, this bird was farmed in Hungary, especially in the plains between the Danube and Tisza rivers (Matolcsi 1975, 218). Several turkey bones came to light from a 17th century pit at the site of Vác-Music School (Bartosiewicz 1995, 59). Red deer As far as the animal remains found in the proximity of the city wall suggest, hunting essen- tially did not contribute to the refuse material. It was probably denied to a great extent to the town's inhabitants and even if occasional exploitation of game as a meat resource took place, the bones were either discarded off site or in other parts of the castrum (for example in the disposal areas of privileged persons or workshops). Assuming that the crane remains, to be discussed later, are not necessarily the result of hunting, deer is the only wild animal that occurs sporadically in the faunal assemlbage. Of the two bone specimens, the antler fragment found at AE/2 is of particular interest. It displays evidence of antler working {PI. XII). The frontal bone is attached to the rose so it unequivocally originates from a hunted individual as opposed to the case of shed antlers, which separate from the skull below the rose. These include paprika, a favored Hungarian spice and corn, which is often referred to as "Turkish wheat" in the archaic Hungarian language. Egg plant, that is „Turkish tomato" in Hungarian is indeed of North Indian origin. Crane The nine crane bones, probably skeletal remains of the same individual, are among the most curious finds in the whole assemblage {PI. XIII). The occurrence of this species should not be suprising from a merely ecological point of view since Székesfehérvár was surrounded by marshland during the periods under study, that is the preffered habitat of all sorts of wading birds including crane (Voous 1962). There are, however, a wide range of possible cultural interpretations. Both the origin and function of these remains lack unambiguous explanation. Because cranes were very, popular over all Eurasia, bones of these birds have been identified in the material of archaeological sites from various periods (Piehler 1976). The number of fragments, on the other hand, is usually low. In the large scale excavations at the Roman Period town of Tác-Gorsium for example, only 16 fragments of crane bones were recovered. Only one of the 800 bird bones found at the early medieval settlement of Haithabu was identified as belonging to this species (Lepiksaar-Heinrich 1977) and similarly only a single phalanx from this bird was recognized in the material from the excavation of 13 th century Isenburg near Hattingen (Reichstein 1981). An interesting parallel to the individual under discussion was found at late medieval Gyula-Vár in the form of four bones that belonged to the same crane (Bökönyi 1974). Among the possible ways crane was exploited, meat consumption should be considered first. Although the meat of these birds is seldom used nowadays, it is known that individuals at young age may be prepared for food. Romans especially fattened cranes and sources such as the cookbook by Apicius (De re coquinaria VI. 15). offer detailed instructions on the way cranes should be cooked, seasoned and served. Plinius (N.H. XXX, 33) also adds that crane fat may be used in curing tumors. Medieval records also mention ways in which crane may be eaten. It was recorded that the meat from cranes and bustards was sold on the Szeged market in 1433 (Gunda 1969). It may be interesting in this regard that similar styles of preparing these two birds have been suggested by Montagne (1972) who also recommends the same recipe for goose and Nantes duckling. Henrikson (1973, 18-19) writes that crane was consumed as a delicacy until the end of the 18th century, and also cites an example from Rabelais who was contemporary to the Turkish occupation of Székesfehérvár. Crane is listed among other highly appreciated foods in the fourth part of Pantagruel. Another source, however, warns that crane meat "maketh melancolious blode" (Aves 1521). More recent publications also emphasize the limited ways crane may be consumed due to the smell and toughness of its meat (Nilsson, 1858; Pák 1829, 142-143). 142