Horváth Attila – H. Tóth Elvira szerk.: Cumania 4. Archeologia (Bács-Kiskun Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei, Kecskemét, 1976)

S. Bökönyi: Szarmata lelőhelyek állatcsont leletei Bács-Kiskun megyéből

ines of the Kunszentmiklós—Bak ér skull fell out post mortem. (At the same time, the healed mark of a left frontal bone of the complete skull of Kunszállás—Alkotmány Tsz.) The mandibles are gracil, their rami point a little orally, and also their canines are very long and slender. To the second group belong each a skull of Kunszállás—Alkotmány Tsz (Inv. Nr. 74.1.227; Fig. 12), Kunszentmiklós—Bak ér (Inv. Nr. 66.3.101; Fig. 13), and Szabadszállás—Józan (Inv. Nr. 65.2.48; Fig. 14). The size of the first and third slightly exceeds that of the skulls of the first group, the second one is essentially larger than those. What is particularly striking how much stronger the skulls of the second group are built than those of the first group. Their Basal length Overall length Overall length/basal length X 100 Frontal width/basal length X 100 Length of plate/basal length X 100 Nasal length/overall length X 100 Ij to middle of the straight line connecting the extreme width of frontal bones/basal length X 100 Table 7. Main measurements and indexes of dog skulls. The second group of skulls is quite common in sites of the Roman Imperial and of the Migration Period and represents a dog skull being close to that of the wolf but smaller and certainly more developped. At the same time, the first group consists of nothing but primitive greyhound skulls, which is particularly convincing when they are compared to skulls of recent Russian greyhounds. The latters are considerably larger than these Sarmatian greyhound skulls and can be distinguished by their somewhat higher median crests and particularly elongated naso-facial parts first of all. These Sarmatian greyhounds are very similar to the Roman and Celtic ones. The Celtic greyhounds seem to be even less specialized, as can be judged from the comparatively larger aboral part of the naso-facial region of the Celtic greyhound skull found in a grave of the Pilismarót—Basaharc cemetery (Fig. 15). The final proof of the greyhound nature of the dogs of the first group comes from their extremity brain-case is certainly less-arched but their median crest is medium or even high resulting in a comparatively longer overall length. Their semicircular lines are expressedly high, and the comparatively wide forehead sinks deeply in between them. Also their zygomatic arch is wider than that of the first group and therefore their largest width is considerable. The naso-facial part is medium long and wide showing a deep concavity in the profile in the height of the orbits. Their canines are rather short but sturdy. Their mandibles are heavy with high horizontal parts and rather short canines. The main differences between the two groups are well-reflected in the measurements and indexes of Table 7. Second group 66.3.101 65.2.48 188 171 214.5 193 114.1 112.9 32.2 33.9 56.4 54.1 50.3 51.8 56.9 56.7 bones: they are long, straight and conspicuously slender, much more gracil than those of the second group. The withers heights determined by Koudelka's indexes (1884) from the lengths of the extremity bones are ca. 52.5, 53.0 and 64.0 cm in the first group, and ca. 55.5, 56.7 and 57.0 in the second group. The occurence of greyhounds in Sarmatian sites is an interesting phenomenon. Nowadays most authors speak about two centres where greyhounds probably developped: one in the southeastern part of Central Asia, and another in Southwest Europe, more precisely in Gallia. The Romans undoubtedly took their greyhounds from the latter, while most Migration Period peoples including the Magyars certainly got theirs from the eastern centre. In the case of the Sarmatians it is rather difficult to determine the origin of their greyhounds (for lack of comparative studies one cannot rely on craniological differences). They could take them either directly from First group 74.1.225 65.2.228 159 170 186 109.4 29.8 27.1 55.3 - 53.2 56