Folia archeologica 36.

Lovag Zsuzsa: Egy XI. századi bronz korpusz

FOLIA ARCHAEOLOGICA XXXVI. 1985. BUDAPEST 193 EARLY MEDIEVAL AUROCHS (BOS PRIMIGENIUS В О J.) AND HIS EXTINCTION IN HUNGARY István VÖRÖS While the osteological description and Osteometrie parameters of fossil and subfossil Aurochs found in Hungary are relatively well-known,

1 the Aurochs bone remains from the Roman and Migration Periods, Early Middle Ages and Middle Ages are far less available to us. The identification of species from the remains found in osteological material

2 of Roman Period and of later historical ages needs to be revised based on the dimensions of the limits established using the osteological material of prehistoric and especially Late Neolithic aurochs and domesticated cattle. In the first decade of this century, B. A. Szalay a doctor employed by the Railway in Nagyszeben (today Sibiu, Roumania) had collected all the bibliographical, documentary and topographical data

1' available to him up to that time on Aurochs in the territory of historical Hungary. However, only a few dated bone remains originating from archaeological excavations were, at that time available to him. His basic data and many of his conclusions — with the exception of only a few which must be corrected on the basis of present knowledge — are even valid nowadays. There are several different hypotheses as regards the extinction of Aurochs in Hungary, its domestication in Early Middle Ages and Middle Ages, or as regards the possible direct descent of the Hungarian wild white cattle from Aurochs.

4 The existence of thes, often contradictory, hypotheses can be explained by an lack of data on the frequency of the occurrence of Aurochs during Early Medieval and Medieval Periods, as well by the different etymological, philological and chronological interpretations of documents and topographical data. 1 Bökönyi, S., Acta Arch. Hung. 14 (1962) 175—214.; Id., Die Wirbeltierfauna der Ausgrabungen in Zalavár. In: Cs. Sós, A.—Bökönyi, S., Zalavár. АН 41 (Budapest 1963) 362.Id., Cumania 1 (1972) 17—56.; Jdnossy, D—Vörös, I., Fragm. Min. et Pal. 10 (1981) 79—96.; Krolopp, E.— Vörös, I., Fol. Mus. hist.-nat. Bakonyiensis 1 (1982) 39—64. 2 Bökönyi, S., Animal husbandry and hunting in Tác-Gorsium. Stud. Arch. 8 (Budapest 1984) 36—37.; Id., History of domestic mammals in Central and Eastern Europe. (Budapest 1974) 438—501. 3 Szalay, B. A., A magyar őstulok. Az őstulok (Bos primigenius Boj.) magyarországi története. (The Hungarian Aurochs. History of the Aurochs (Bos primigenius Boj.) in Hungary. (Nagyszeben 1917) MS. Also see the end of this paper, footnote N° 88. 4 Also see footnote № 94. 13 Folia Archaeologia XXXI 1985.