A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 36. - 1994 (Nyíregyháza, 1995)

István Vörös: Animal husbandry and hunting in the Middle Neolithic settlement at Tiszavasvári-Deákhalmi dűlő (Upper Tisza region)

Animal husbandry and hunting in the Middle Neolithic ... On the basis of their sizes and shapes the cattle bones and bone fragments are almost exclusively the remains of cows. In terms of size and type („primigenius") the cattle of Tiszavasvári-Deákhalom corresponds to the cattle of ALPC settlements in Tiszavasvári-Keresztfal (BÖKÖNYI 1974.461.), Tiszavasvári-Köztemető and Tiszalök-Hajnalos (VÖRÖS 1989.). Twenty of the 28 cattle individuals (71.5%) were slaughtered before having reached the age of 3 years. Among them 5 animals were killed by the age of cc.l, 3 animals by the age of 1.5, and 12 animals between the ages of 2 and 3 years old (Table 4). 2.2. Sheep In the settlement, 421 pieces of sheep bone remains, or 46 individuals, were collected, 54 of which could be measured (Table 1,2,6). The distribution of sheep bone remains by anatomical (Table 2) and body regions (Table 3) is asymmetric similarly to that of the cattle: the most frequent in the bone pattern are the so-called meat bearing limb segments (43.5%) and the trunk bones (37.5%); they are followed - similarly to the cattle by bones from the head bones (12.5%), the so-called dry limb bones (6.1%) and phalanges (0.4%). In the excavated part of the settlement, the AQ values show that primarily the so-called meat bearing limb segments (AQ 5.0, 183 pieces, 43-5%) and head bones (AQ 4.0, 52 pieces, 12.5.%) of sheep were accumulated. The large numbers of trunkbones (AQ 0.7, 158 pieces, 37.5%) - similarly to that of the cattle - show the intensive ingestion of the back-chuck and breast parts. The number of the so-called dry limbs bones that remained in the skin after the flaying (AQ 0.3, 26 pieces, 6.1%) and that of the phalanges (AQ 0.02, 2 pieces, 0.4%) is very small. The sheep had small bodies (Table 6): the average w. of collnm scapulae is 18.37 (n=4), limit 17-21 mm, the average w. of ang.artic. is 30.75 (n=4), limit 29-33 mm. The average w. of hum.dist.epiph. is 26.55 (n=17), limit 25-29 mm. The average w. of rad.porx. epiph. is 20.00 (n=3), limit 18-22 mm. The average w. of tib. dist.cpiph. is 23.8 (n=5), limit 21-27 mm. The average of mtprox.cpiph. is 17.0 (n=3), limit 16-19 mm. For the calculation of the withers height (TEICHERT 1975.) three bone measurements can be used: Bone Length Withers height Sex scapula 110 mm 465 mm female metacarpus 116 mm 567 mm female calcaneus 53 mm 605 mm female All the three individuals must have had small bodies. Among the sheep both females ivithout horns and with small horns can be encountered. Skulls or postcranial bone fragments of rams were not found. The sheep stock consisted of individuals of the so-called turbary sheep type (Ovis aries palustris Rütimeyer). The same type of turf bary sheep, characterized by a small body, was found in Tiszavasvári at the both Neolithic settlements and in Tiszalök-Hajnalos (VÖRÖS 1989.). Most of the 46 sheep individuals - 42 individuals, 91.3% - were slaughtered before having reached the age of 2 years: 4 animals were slaughtered at the age of 0-6 months, 16 animals were killed between 0.5-1 years, 2 animals were - ca. 1 year at death, 20 animals were killed between 1 and 2 years (Table 4). 2.3. Goat The remains of only two goats could be identified in the material of the settlement: a right side horn core thick, straight, with a rounded edge, bending back, so-called „aegagrus" type. It measured as follows (mm): the length of the fragment is 132, greater diameter 32, smaller diameter 24, basis circumference 88 mm. A mt diaphyisis length from a young kid is 70 mm. 2.4. Pig The relatively small number - 75 pieces - of the pig remains found at the settlement belonged to at least 24 individuals (Table 1,4). The distribution of pig bone material by anatomical (Table 2) and body regions (Table 3) is also asymmetric: the numbers of pieces of the head and the meat bearing limb segments (24-24 pieces) as well as that of the trunk and the so-called dry limb region (13-13 pieces) are the same. The AQ values, however, are significantly different: the AQ of the head is 12.6; the AQ of the meat bearing limb segment is 4.5; the AQ of the trunk is 0.4; and the AQ of the so-called dry limb is 0.6 (Table 3). The dominant parts of pigs found at the settlement, aside from the split skulls, were the bones of the fore-legs (scapula-humeres) and hind-legs (femurtibia). It is peculiar that the bones of the breast (vertebrae of the back and lumbars region, ribs) are missing. This phenomenon can be explained by the way the pig was butchered and with meal customs. The pigs were small bodied. Their sizes can be characterized only by using three bone sizes: 2 hum.dist.epiph. w. 34-36 mm, the length of an astragalus is 38 mm. From the latter we can calculate the value of withers height (TEICHERT 1969-): 680 mm. Two-thirds (66.7%) of the 24 pig individuals - 16 individuals - were killed before having reached the age of 2: 2 animals in the age of 3 months, 4 animals in the age of 0.5-1 year, and 10 animals.at the age between 1 and 2 years (Table 4). Jósa András Múzeum Évkönyve 1994 171