A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 30-32. - 1987-1989 (Nyíregyháza, 1992)

Takács István:Összefüggés vizsgálat az állatok életkora, a sírok tájolása és az emberek elhalálozásának szezonalitása között honfoglalás kori temetőben

Relationship between grave orientation, the season of burial and the age of animals buried as grave goods in cemeteries from the Period of the Hungarian Conquest The aging of animal bones from archaeological deposits is an important aspect of archaeozoological investigations. From the viewpoint of economic history, for example, the percentual contribution of juvenile, adult and senile individuals may reflect economic conditions. When bone finds from a settlement are dominated by remains of mature and senile individuals, it is possible that only relatively few animals were kept which were mainly used as breeding stock and only the oldest individuals were slaughtered and consumed. Aging animals may be used in solving other problems, not exclusively zoological in nature, as well. In this study, the age of animals entered in the form of grave goods (food offerings) was studied in connection with the age of the deceised person (burial) in order to identify the relative (seasonal) chronology of enterment. During the analysis of animal bone finds from the Algyö cemetery, numerous bones from young animals could be easily recognized. With the help of these zoological finds, two possibe seasons when the burial may have taken place could be pinpointed within the plan of the cemetery. A summarized evaluation of seasonal datings suggests that human mortality was highest at the end of the fall and during the spring months. The two alternative dates, in many cases, could be further refined using the evidence of animal bones. Newborn lambs, for example, were available only during March/April. October, as the fall counterpoint of March, could be ruled out. With he help of zoological evidence and other finds, pairs of months and the probable season of burial among them could be identified more accurately. István TAKÁCS 380