Tárnoki Judit szerk.: Tisicum - A Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Múzeumok Évkönyve 19. (2009)
Régészettudomány - - Appendix I - László Bartosiewicz - Bronze Age worked antler remains from Zagyvapálfalva-Homokbánya (Northern Hungary)
Régészettudomány László BART OSIEWICZ APPENDIX I. - Bronze Age worked antler remains from ZagyvapálfalvaHomokbánya (Northern Hungary) Zagyvapálfalva is located in the Tarján creek valley in the Northern Hill Region of Hungary (Lat: 48.1, Long: 19.8, ca. 300 m asl.). Today it is a suburb of Salgótarján city. Relevant, contemporaneous material was also included from Kisterenye-Hársas, a village some 10 km to the southeast (Lat: 48.0, Long: 19.8, ca. 300 m asl.) in a similar environment. On the basis of the ceramic typology the worked animal remains under discussion here originate from mixed contexts at both sites, with pottery dated to the late Hatvan-Füzesabony culture on the basis of style, which is a characteristic late form of the Füzesabony culture (better known toward the east) that survived among the hills in the Ipoly and Zagyva river valleys, south of Hungary's presentday border with Slovakia. The relative time period thus defined is considered the last third of the Middle Bronze Age in Hungary, directly preceding the so-called Koszider culture. It corresponds to roughly 1600-1500 cal BC in terms of absolute chronology, using the analogy of the tell settlement of Jázsdózsa-Kápolnahalom, located to the south in the Great Hungarian Plain. Although the refuse bone from these old excavations is not available, even the worked remains reflect the importance of exploiting large game. While no antler was found attached to the frontal bone (the only evidence of hunting) may and have been gathered, among the worked bone some remains of red deer and a bear phalanges are indicative of killing wild animals. Antler, growing on the frontal bone of usually male cervids, can be acquired both by hunting stags and bucks or gathering after it is shed, following the fall rutting season. The Zagyvapálfalva assemblage contained 17 pieces of antler from red deer, some of them in the form of finished tools, others as antler working debitage. Kisterenye yielded 24 fragments of worked red deer antler. Roe deer antler is of significantly smaller size. The two pieces found in the Zagyvapálfalva and Kisterenye sample each were more őrless complete, showing very little modification. Many of these artifacts have been inventoried under two numbers. Using the systematic description of antler fragments used in manufacturing mining tools, developed by Bácskay and Vörös 1 1980 (Figure 1), none of the red deer antler pieces could be proven as coming from hunted animals. Nine fragments originated from shed antler. On three of these, the natural proportions between the diameter of the "seal" 1 BÁCSKAY, Erzsébet-VÖRÖS, István 1980. Figure 1 : Parts of the complete red deer antler and its main section types as defined by Bácskay and Vörös (1980): A=antler attached to frontal bone, B=base of shed antler, C=shed antler, D=middle beam segment, E=upper beam and crown, F=crown, G=various tines (H=miscellanea, not shown in this figure separately) 143
