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
On the baqsis of previous research it has been suggested that Bronze Age climatic deterioration resulted in a decrease in the keeping of sheep and/or goat often in favor of pig, a species preferring more humid, forested habitats. This tendency is apparent at later Bronze Age occupations such as the animal remains from the Füzesabony and Koszider culture layers of Tószeg-Laposhalom, 27 the Gyulavarsand culture fauna of Békés-Városerdő, and the Tumulus culture bone material from Igar-Vámpuszta. This tendency is, however, less pronounced at Early Bronze Age settlements discussion here. Most of the assemblages show the continuing importance of sheep regardless of sample size or typochronological associations. This phenomenon seems somewhat similar to the situation observed in the Great Hungarian Plain. 1 Without denying the fundamental impact of climatic changes on prehistoric life, it seems reasonable to assume that these changes effected domestic stock only indirectly, through vegetation changes, while the choice between keeping sheep, goat or pig was made more on a local basis, depending on the types of habitat occupied by the respective human populations. Looking at the sheep/pig dichotomy which, among domesticates, could be the only reliable indicator of a more radical environmental change, local patterns of meat consumption seem to define the composition of animal bone assemblages. Conclusions Prior to large scale excavations during the early 1990's only sporadic archaeozoological data were known from the Bronze Age of Northwestern Hungary. Eleven newly analysed assemblages originating from nine sites in the region are indicative of the fundamental importance of animal keeping, with only a negligible role left for hunting. Further, detailed studies of this material should consider the complex nature of data as shown in Figure 4. While ,3ronze Age" in itself is a concept rooted in metallurgy, this period is represented by a number of ceramic styles whose spatial and temporal distributions are used in fine-üining the internal relative chronology of the period. Parallel scientific investigations are also indicative of climatic change as well as the introduction of large scale crop cultivation. As wild animal habitats decreased due to the expansion of plowlands. Under these circumstances attitudes toward natural resources changed and domestic plant as well as animal species assumed a central role in the procurement of food. They must have provided the cornerstone of existential stability at the time of relatively intense culture change. Consequently, die fauna of the sites under discussion here seems rather uniform and stable in spite of differences in their typochronological affiliations, taphonomic characteristics and sample sizes. Beef was undoubtedly the most important source of animal protein, while the balanced representation of sheep and pig remains is indicative of the parallel exploitation of these two animals which may be considered the only domestic animals with opposing habitat preferences. The near-permanent presence of sporadic horse remains illustrates the importance these domestic animals attained by the time of the Early Bronze Age. Acknowledgements Bronze Age research in Northwestern Hungary has been supported by OTKA Grant no. T 18179. 27 Bökönyi1952. 28 Bökönyi Verzeichnis... 1974. 29 Choyke An analisys.... 1984. 30 See also the Somogyvár-Vinkovci culture sites of Szava (Vörös 1979. 142, Table I.) and Börzönce-Temetőidűlő (Bartoslewlcz 1995. 320, Table 2) 31 Choyke An analisys... 1984. Table 8 32 For sporadic data c. f. Bökönyi History... 1974. 360., 377-378,
