Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. A Szent István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 34. 2004 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (2005)
Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Bartosiewicz, László: Skull fragment of a late neolithic auroch (Bos primigenius Bojanus 1827) from Mórágy–Tűzkődomb (Tolna county, western Hungary. XXXIV. p. 41–44. T. I–III.
Bull Cow References Mesolithic Neolithic 15 1 26 9 Bökönyi 1972, Krolopp - Vörös 1982, Vörös 1987 Bökönyi 1962, Bartosiewicz 1999 Table 2: Aurochs horn cores available for comparison in this study Table 2 shows the overwhelming dominance of bulls among aurochs horn cores. This would be more understandable in neolithic assemblages, where human "trophy-hunting" may have led to the selective accumulation of horn cores from large bulls. In the case of the Mórágy specimen the fact the the horns originated from a bull of capital probably had to do with its deposition within the settlement. It is not known, however, whether the overrepresentation of bulls in mesolithic natural deposits is simply a random phenomenon or is also related to some ethological characteristics of solitary bulls. The proportion between crania from bulls to those of cows was also approximately 3 to 1 in the large data set analysed in the seminal study by Grigson. 5 RESULTS In addition to the specimen under discussion here, complete horn cores were studied from both mesolithic and neolithic sites. From previous calcuations it is clear that horn length is closely related to the size and robusticity of the skull. Sexual dimorphism in horn size was also clearly demonstrated, therefore only the more numerous bull horn cores were compared diachronically using a Student's t-test (Table 3). Mean , mm MesoNeolithic t-value degree of p-value lithic freedom n=15 n=26 Outer length 681.8 641.9 1.292 39 0.204 Greatest diame117.8 120.1 -0.553 39 0.583 ter at base Smallest diame94.5 96.7 -0.786 39 0.437 ter at base Base circumfer336.9 341.7 -0.529 39 0.600 ence Table 3: Comparison of horn core measurements in aurochs bulls Although the fifteen mesolithic bull horn cores look, on average, longer and more slender than those of neolithic aurochs bulls, this difference is not consistent and is far from being statistically significant on the basis of the sample available for study. Therefore the measurements of mesolithic and neolithic aurochs horn cores were pooled to provide a broader basis for comparison 5 Grigson 1978,138 with the newly found bull neurocranium fragment from Mórágy. Parameters of this sample may be compared to the average horn core measurements of the Mórágy specimen in Table 4. Mesolithic + Neolithic pooled Mórágy n=41 Mórágy Mean, mm sd, mm Skew left + right mean, mm Outer length 656.5 96.0 -0.945 700.0* Greatest diameter at base 119.3 12.8 0.275 120.9 Smallest diameter at base 95.9 8.4 -0.125 106.4 Base circumference 340.0 28.1 -0.139 358.6 Table 4: Comparison between the univariate statistical parameters of prehistoric aurochs horn cores (*estimate) Horn core dimensions of the aurochs bull from Mórágy, on average, were larger than the mean value of the pooled sample of mesolithic-neolithic aurochs bulls. When the base diameters of the Mórágy specimen are plotted together with the reference material, especially the larger right horn core stands out (Plate III, Fig. 4). The base measurements of the left horn core are only slightly greater than the average of the pooled sample. Of the other measurements, those of the forehead could be compared to sporadic data published in the literature. While the number of cases available is not sufficiently great to statistically test the relation between the Mórágy specimen and the skulls of other Neolithic aurochs bulls, the large size of the aurochs skull central to this paper may be visually appraised in (Plate III, Fig. 5). Finally, the length of the horn sheath was estimated to give a general impression of this animal. One should not forget that it was probably the horns and not the bare skull of the animal was displayed. On the basis of numerous breeds of long-horned domestic cattle from Europe and North Africa, including the Hungarian Grey cattle (Bartosiewicz n. d.), the linear regression between the length of the horn core (x) and the length of the horn sheath (y) may be described by the following linear regression equation: y =1.174x + 60.847 (r = 0.977) The extremely high correlation between these two measurements is not at all surprising, since they fall within the same dimension. On the basis of this close relationship, however, one may rather precisely reconstruct the original length of the horns on the basis of the archaeological bone find. When the intact horn core of the Mórágy bull is plotted against the data of long-horned domestic cattle, its relatively large size (882.6 mm) becomes immediately visible, even among the usually longer horns of oxen whose castration usually results in prolonged longitudinal horn growth (Plate III, Fig. 6). 42
