Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 30/1. (2010)
Book Review
Bartosiewicz László-Gál Erika-Kováts István (Ed.), Csontvázak a szekrényből (Skeletons from the Cupboard), Martin Opitz kiadó, Budapest, 2009, 292 pages, 34 tables in text, 28 tables in appendix, 156 figures. Book review by Erzsébet BERENDI Finally, the first and long waited volume of studies from Visegrád Meetings of Hungarian Archaeozoologists (2002-2009) came to life in November 2009. The volume - a pioneering in this field - contains studies of archaeozoologists and other scholars from Hungary and abroad. The title of the volume at first may suggest that we are looking at a horror book, or a detective novel, but it genuinely refers to the simple fact, that due to lack of financial support, these manuscripts slept long “Sleeping Beauty-years” in different drawers, cupboards and who knows where else, waiting for the opportunity. Editors have made a special effort to include non-archaeozoological topics among these writings, that is probably because every meeting had special guests (ethologist, veterinarian, sculptor, ethnographer, GIS analyst, restorer, geologist, etc.) helping to widen the range of vision regarding the animal bones, and the sharing of experiences have always been made in a very open and friendly way. Thus, the studies deal with topics ranging from hands-on restoration work through a review of various animal species to bone manufacturing tradition and the special relationship between animals and humans in the past. The volume is partly dedicated to Sándor Bökönyi, the internationally respected founder of Hungarian modern archaeozoology, in the memory of the 15th anniversary of his passing away. Starting from this partial dedication, this volume is meant to illustrate the continuity and multifaceted survival of his scholarly heritage. Also, it is a tribute to the conception introduced by the very modest László Bartosiewicz, who initiated the spreading of the spirit of benevolent criticism and cooperation in the times of professional discordances. Thanks to all editors for their persistence and for their devotion. They say, do not judge a book by its cover - well, this book is beautiful. It is big, massive, it has good quality, printed on thick and glossy paper, with hard cover. The front cover is designed with an in situ photograph in the background and a tiger (or some felid’s) skull in the front ground. On the back cover there’s a short text and a shoulder blade of a felid drawn in 5 different positions. The book is dark, slightly coloured, which reflects very well the depth of that certain cupboard. There are 23 articles in this volume: five written in English, the rest in Hungarian. Still, all of them have English abstracts (except for one which has it in German). The articles were loaded in a strict logical MARISIA XXX, p. 219-222
