A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 2004 (Debrecen, 2005)

Régészet, ókortudomány - Vörös István: Animal Fossils from Vámospércs-Villongó

István Vörös ANIMAL FOSSILS FROM VÁMOSPÉRCS-VILLONGÓ In the spring of 1999, the archeologists from Déri Múzeum in Debrecen excavated the site at Vámospércs-Villongó and unearthed a Sarmatian settlement and part of a cemetery from the Late Avar Age. (97 objects, ca. 800 m

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). 1 Sarmatian Settlement There were animal bone remains in 50 of the objects of the settlement (Table 1). The percentage ratio among domestic animals was the following: cattle 54.4%, smaller size ruminant mammals 18.1%, swine 7.0%. The anatomical breakdown of the animal fossils is shown in Table 2, while the bone sizes are listed in Table 3. Cattle (withers height 112 cm), sheep (withers height 61.6 cm), goats (withers height 60 cm) and swine were of average body height. Cattle appear to have been the most important source for meat consumption but they were mostly used as beasts (e.g. as work stock). The younger sheep and goats were bred for their pelts and meat, while pigs were raised for their meat. Horses, with withers height at 138.6 cm, were slightly smaller than medium size. The canine skeleton (Pit no. 60, Picture 1) is that of a sheepdog of 66.5 cm height. Among poultry, there were only small size domestic hens found. The implements made of bone were prepared (carved or chiseled) out of the metapodia (mc/mt) of horses. Among wild animals, aurochs and beavers were hunted. From one of the houses (11) came the remains of a hamster and a water vole. In one pit (18.) there was a headless skeleton of a frogcatching eagle. There were deciduous forests with occasional meadows, lakes and running bodies of water in the vicinity of the settlement. 2. Late Avar Age grave with horse skeleton in ravaged condition (27.) The skeleton of the approximately 9-year-old, withers height 137.5 cm, horse was lying on its left side. The front section of the body of the horse (including the head, neck, and part of the corpus) had been ravaged (Picture 1, 2). For tooth and bone sizes, see Tables 2, 4, and 5. 81