Havassy Péter - Selmeczi László szerk.: Régészeti kutatások az M0 autópálya nyomvonalán 1. (BTM műhely 5/I. kötet Budapest, 1992)

VÖRÖS ISTVÁN: Őskori települések állatcsontleletei Szigetszentmiklós határában

Animal bones from the prehistoric settlements near Szigetszentmiklós ISTVÁN VÖRÖS The researchers of the Budapest History Museum made rescue excavation along the trail of the speedway MO at the sites so-called Üdülősor ( 1988-1989) and Vízműtelep (1989) on Csepel-lsland. In this short report I should like to give a brief survay on the animal bone remains excavated in the settlement patrs of Middle Neolithic, Middle Copper Age, Late Bronze Age and Celtic sites in the above-mentioned two areas (Tables 1-5.). The anatomical (Tables 6-8) and metric (Table 9.) documentation of the bone material can be considered as primary source of our knowledge of the above-mentioned periods At Vízműtelep 8 pits of the Middle Neolithic settlement (Table 2.), a sacrifical pit of the Middle Copper Age settlement (Nr.

40.) and 5 pits of the Late Bronze Age settlement (Table 4.) yielded animal materials. At Üdülősor animal bones were found in 6 pits of the Middle Copper Age settlement and in 12 pits of the Celtic settlement. Six domestic species were identified: cattle, sheep, goat, pig, horse and dog; four species of wild mammals were identified: aurochs, red deer, wild boar and brown hare; and birds: grey leg goose and black grouse; one fish: catfish. 38,1 per cent of the total amount of animal bones (1165 specimens) belongs to the Neolithic Age; 31,8 per cent to the Copper Age; 16,2 per cent to the Bronze Age while 10,9 per cent of it originated from the Celtic period. In the Neolithic the order of economic importance of domestic animals was: cattle - small ruminants - pig. Intensified stock breeding resulted in the low ratio of game animals {Tables 1-2.). The number of animal bones in relatively small in the Copper Age. In the sacrificial pit at Vízműtelep (/Yr. 40., Table 3.) the following remains were found: heads of four cattle of different sex and age; two left hind legs and three rigth hind legs. A goat horncores, heads of a sheep and a pig, and a split knuckle of a horse. Beside the ramains of a child a red deer trophy was found in the sacrificial pit. The mortality of the 3-4 months old lamb and of the 2-3 months old puppy found in the pit suggests a summer period. In the Bronze Age the order of economic importance of domestic animals is: cattle-horse-small ruminants. The 22.3 per cent presence of wild animals demonstrates the existence of intensive hunting. The every four period of Prehistory the most important domestic animal of economic use was cattle. The second most important-except Late Bronze age - was the small ruminants group. The small number of pig remains in conspicuous. Cattle belongs to the primigenius, sheep belongs to the copper and turnbary, while goat represents an animal with aegagrus type horn-cores.