Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. A Szent István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 34. 2004 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (2005)

Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Zalai-Gaál, István: New evidence for the Cattle cult in the Neolithic of Central Europe. XXXIV. p. 7–40. T. I–XVII.

stone slabs, in which lay a pig skull, underneath which the skeletal parts of a cattle and a sheep or goat and fragments of a vessel had been deposited. Manfred Rech suggested that this assemblage represented the remains of a bloody sacrifice performed as part of the ritual preceding the construction of the house (Soudsky 1969; Rech 1995, 22). A round, 150 cm deep pit at the Zauschwitz site mentioned above yielded horn remains from three „bisonlike" cattle, which lay in a thick layer abounding in pottery sherds and animal bones. The date of this assemblage could be established on the basis of a vessel fragment bearing an incised frog depiction (Coblenz 1962, 74). A zoomorphic vessel with a cattle head protome dates from the later Stroke Ornamented Pottery culture (AnkelMeier-Arendt 1965, 5; Baumann 1976, 101, Abb. 6a-b). The pits uncovered at Baarleben too testify to the practice of a cattle cult (Lies 1965, 14). Only the head and the front left foot of a cattle figurine from Geiselhöring in Bavaria has survived; the figurine can be attributed to the Copper Age Münchshöfen culture (Böhm 1984, 8). Thé remarkable finds from the Bicske-Galagonyás site represent the Sopot-Bicske culture, one of the forerunners of the Lengyel culture (Protolengyel horizon). Two bull skulls laid on top of each other and oriented in the same direction were found in one of the post-holes of the eastern, outer row of post-holes in one of the longhouses. Two stone axes lay on each other by the edge of the posthole (Plate VII, Fig. 9). No other bones were found in the sacrificial pit aside from the skulls of the two animals, which according to János Makkay represent the remains of a sacrifice (Makkay 1983, 162-163, Fig. 75; 1986, 172, Abb. 4). A few pottery fragments too testify to the existence of a cattle cult among the occupants of the Protolengyel horizon. The zoomorphic knobs and moulded decoration on pottery vessels depict highly stylised or more realistically modelled cattle heads; the pottery wares decorated in this manner reflect contact with the Vinéa В culture {Plate VII, Fig. 10. 1-5; Makkay 1969, 256, Abb. 6. 2-7). A biconical vessel was adorned with a zoomorphic ornament on which the horns were also shown (Makkay-Starnini-Tulok 1996, Fig. 7. 4). This vessel was one of the grave goods in a „solitary" burial, Grave 1/1974, which stands out from the other burials owing to its finds. The man buried in this grave was laid to rest in a rather unusual position, and in addition to four pottery vessels, he was also equipped with an antler axe, a rare symbol of power. His jewellery was strung from 336 Spondylus beads representing seven different types (Makkay-Starnini-Tulok 1996). Schematic animal shaped lugs and appliqué ornaments occur among the finds of all three regional variants of the Sopot culture (in Raziste, Brezovljani and Pepelane wares). The horn shape of the pieces from PodgorácRaziste is perhaps an indication of the animal species (Markovié 1985, Tab. 1. 1, Tab. 2. 1-2, Tab. 6. 3-4; 1994, Tab. 11. 5, Tab. 12. 5); the head on the protome found at Gorni Brezovljani has a triangular form with horns (Dimitrijevic 1979, Tab. 52. 9). The upper part of a vessel handle brought to light on the Pepelane tell settlement was formed to resemble horns. The finds from this site include many moulded ornaments with a triangular head and a long neck (Markovié 1994, Tab. 3a. 9, Tab. 17. 3, 6). This imagery survived into the local Aeneolithic, as evidenced by a few finds of the Seőe culture (Markovié 1994, Tab. 18. 9-10). Comparable schematic, moulded ornaments in the form of animal heads have been published from Nemesvámos-Baláca in Transdanubia (Regénye 2002, Fig. 2. 6). COPPER AGE PARALLELS Evidence for the practice of a cattle cult can be cited from all Copper Age cultures in Central, Eastern and South-East Europe (Behrens 1964, 17; Vladár-Lichardus 1968, 280, 284; Makkay 1975, 175; Zalai-Gaál 1998a; Pollex 1999). Certain species played a prominent role in the beliefs of the Early Copper Age Tiszapolgár population, as shown by the complete animals or certain body parts deposited in the burials, the remains of food offerings, various bone artefact and special animal bone combinations in male burials. Some of these artefact had a ritual significance independent of the burial rite (Meisenheimer 1989, 72). In addition to pig and boar mandibles and dog skeletons, typical grave goods included also aurochs and cattle scapulae and metatarsals, as will be clear from the examples cited below. Most of the animal bones recovered from burials came from food offerings deposited beside the deceased.

29 Animal bones were found in sixty-eight burials of the Early Copper Age cemetery at Tiszapolgár-Basatanya; about one-quarter came from cattle (cp. Lichter 2001, 287 for a comprehensive overview). The most frequent domestic species was cattle and it would appear that the hunting of aurochs declined compared to the Late Neolithic (Bognár-Kutzián 1972, 163, 170). Cattle bones were found in eleven graves, most of which were male burials from the Early Copper Age. Only three graves with cattle bones (all of them male burials) lay in the cemetery's Middle Copper Age section (Bognár-Kutzián 1963, 380). It must here be noted that aurochs and cattle scapulae and hind metatarsals have only been found in this cemetery of the Tiszapolgár culture. Cattle metatarsals were exclusively deposited in male burials; female burials contained other skeletal parts of cattle too (Bognár-Kutzián 1963, „Für die Funktion von Tierknochen als Teil einer Speisebeigabe spricht ihre z. T. noch erhaltene anatomische Anordnung im Grab sowie die erwähnte Deponierung in Gefäßen" (Meisenheimer 1989, 34). 23