Achaeometrical Research in Hungary II., 1988

BIBLIOGRAPHY - SUMMARIES - ANALYSES

Due to their good preservation and geometrically "regular" shape, the fused 3rd and 4th metapodia of cattle are among the most widely used bones in biométrie reconstructions in archaeology. The brief review is a critical evaluation of advantages and pitfalls inherent in the use of These bones for the purposes of sex- and withers height determiantion. Bartosiewicz L.: Water-sieving experiment at Örménykút, Site 54 = In M. Járó, L. Költő eds.: Archaeometrical Research in Hungary. National Centre of Museums, Budapest (1988) 267-274. Water-sieving is one of the most important, indispensable methods used in the recovery of small finds such as fish bone and numerous other artifacts. A statistical evaluation of bone splinters within the 5 to 65 mm size interval show that hand-collection becomes very unreliable in comparison to the use of a 2.5 mm mesh, while the 0.8 mm mesh size does not significantly increase the quantity of useful information. Implications of labor investment are also briefly discussed. Bartosiewicz L.: Species interferences and the interpretation of Neolithic animal exploitation = Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 42 (1990) 287-292. Numerous faunal lists by the author and in the literature were used in order to develop regression equations between the number of identifiable bone specimens (NISP, independent variable) and the minimum number of individuals (MNI) for cattle, sheep/goat, pig and dog. Calculations were carried out separately for sites characterized by more and less hunting (cutpoint: 75 % domestic animal bone). The paper includes a critical evaluation of the MNI method. Bartosiewicz L.: Újkökori és rézkori szarvasmarhák termetének és ivarának becslése többváltozós módszerekkel (Estimating stature and sex in Neolithic and Copper Age cattle using multivariate methods) = Agrártörténeti Szemle 1-4, Budapest (1990) 1-21. A major body of both archaeological and modern cattle bones both in the literature and museum collections was analyzed in order to detect chronological and sex-dependent patterning in prehistoric cattle. While the sample was not entirely sufficient for the purposes of regional comparisons in Europe, sexual dimorphism could be established in biométrie terms. Bartosiewicz L.: Animal bones as indicators of continuity at Roman provincial sites = Antaeus 19-20, Budapest (1990-1991) 103-342. Regression equations calculated between the number of identifiable bone specimens (NISP) and the number of identifiable taxa (R) were used in civil and military settlements in an effort to interpret the decline of centralized power in Pannónia in terms of meat procurement. The diachronic increase in hunting as well as the increasing variability of animal species exploited indicate that central meat supplies were dwindling at the fringes of the Roman Empire. 307