Ilon Gábor szerk.: Pápai Múzeumi Értesítő 6. (Pápa, 1996)

Bronzkor a Nyugat-Dunántúlon - L. Bartosiewicz: Bronze age animal keeping in northwestern Transdanubia, Hungary. Bronzkori állattartás az Északnyugat-Dunántúlon

noteworthy that even bones of red deer, a species commonly represented at Bronze Age sites in other regions of Hungary, are rare in the material. In Figure 3, the percentual proportions between the three most important domestic animals can be compared to each other. While the sites under discussion here offer a rather variable picture, one must bear in mind that both the natural and artificial fragmentation of larger bones tends to be more intensive making comparisons between animals of different sizes sometimes difficult. Nevertheless, cattle bones usually make up approximately 50-70% of all identifiable fragments, especially in tiic largest, statistically most reliable samples. The only exception is the site of Ravazd-Villibald-domb, where both chronological components available for study are dominated by the remains of small ungulates. The extremely high percentage of Caprines is especially remarkable in the larger, Kisapostag sample. In the case of sites where bhe proportion between the remains of Caprines and pig is more balanced, smaller differences may be attributed to random bias. Although, sheep and/or goat seem to have been slaughtered consistently in somewhat higher numbers, this impression cannot be substantiated in statistically significant terms on the basis of the data available for study. Although sheep and goat prefer drier elevations to marshy areas, the importance of these species is difficult to explain by the topography of Ravazd-Villibald-domb alone. Should this trend hold true, it is to some extent in contrast with previous observations made at other Early and Middle Bronze Age sites located in the hillier regions of Southern Transdanubia and Austria, where pork consumption seems to have played a slightly more important role. Finally, it is worth mentioning mat, with the exception of two small assemblages, horse bones occurred at all Bronze Age sites under discussion here. Although they were found in small numbers, their consistent presence even in early materials shows that horse keeping was rather firmly established by this time, although it is most unlikely that quantities of horse flesh were consumed. Without the risk of ethnocentric speculations, we may assume that horses were appreciated beasts within the domestic fauna and their skin as well as meat were used once the animals could no longer be used in transport and hauling. This hypothesis is supported not only by well known pieces of bridles and horse harness from numerous sites'

2 but also by the presence of peripheral body parts (skull and dry limb bones) from usually mature or senile individuals at all sites discussed here.

13 Discussion Patterns observed within the pooled set of data for domestic and wild animal remains from the nine northwestern sites under discussion here can be best understood within the general environmental context of the Bronze Age. Since archacobotanical and pedological investigations for the Northwestern Transdanubia have been in progress, previous results published in the literature were reviewed in order to provide a background for faunal interpretations and draft an interpretative framework for the purposes of archaeozoological evaluation. When properly treated, the trends tiius observed may be used in generating research hypotiieses which could be further tested on the basis of newly obtained multidisciplinary data on the environment. Louring the period of climatic transition connecting the so-called Atlantic and Subboreal phases the warm, humid and balanced climate gradually deteriorated in Central Europe.

16 Maximum Bones of sheep and goat were pooled under the terras „Caprine" in this figure. For details see Table 1 c. f. Bökónyt, S.: History of domestic mammals in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest, 1974. 401; Pucher, E.: Bronzezeitliche Tierknochen vom Buchberg, OG Wiesing, Tirol. FÖ 23 (1984) 209-220. 209, Tabelle 1; Vörös 1979. 142. Tab. I 12 e. g. Choyke 1979.; Bona, I.: Wagen und Wagenmodelle in den Teil-Kulturen. In I. Fodor, W. Meier-Arendt and P. Raczky cds.: Dezernat Kultur und Freizeit der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, 1992. 7375. 75. Figs. 36-37 For parallel observations elsewhere c. f. Vörös 1980. 30. Introduction to this section is mostly based on a summary published by GyuiaL F.: Environment and Agriculture in Bronze Age Hungary. Archaeolingua, Series Minor, Budapest, 1993. i. e. the end of the Neolithic (c. a. 2800 B. C.) in archaeological terms