Póczy Klára: Forschungen in Aquincum 1969- 2002 (Aquincum Nostrum 2. Budapest, 2003)

6. Die Wirtschaft Aquincums im Spiegel der neuen Funde - 6.3. Animals and Roman lifeways in Aquincum (Alice M. Choyke)

50% • domestic hen E3dog • horse •pig • sheep/goat • cattle Period 1 = 103 Period 2 = 39 Period 3 = 67 Period 4 = 53 Period Period and N1SP Fig. 3. The percentile contribution of domesticates at three different types of sites tively. Only two of the horncores found at the Firemen's Headquarters site came from bulls. None were from oxen. These proportions as well as the dearth of juvenile individuals strongly suggest that cattle were not raised exclusively for meat. That cows were also used in draught work is shown by two horncores from cows which came from a trench running along the southern wall of the Civil Town. These cores had indentations on their bases resulting from intensive yoking. A relatively few horncores from this same trench came from oxen which would have been valuable in hauling heavy loads as well. The withers heights of the animals from the Firemen's Headquarters show that, with the exception of three animals, these animals were small, falling below the minimum withers height calculated for Roman breeds in Pannónia (between 120-140 cm)

57 but well within the range oxen, the presence of these latter, however, could not be identified on a morphological basis. 57 BÖKÖNYI op. cit. 128. of Celtic cattle. These measurements suggest a scenario in which local peasants brought their old dairy cows (these animals would also have been used for hauling) to the edge of the town where they were slaughtered, a messy job not suitable for the densely inhabited town. The roughly sectioned carcass could then be brought into a butchershop where it could be further processed. The picture differs somewhat from the medium and large Roman cattle breeds more typically found in rural settlements related to large estates.

58 The floodplain between the city and the Buda hills was large enough to support small farms but perhaps the smaller Celtic breeds would have been, by and large, strong enough to do the work on them as well as to ultimately provide a supply of meat and milk to the town. This would explain the generally small size of cattle from refuse deposits in the Civil Town. (Tab. 1) Small numbers of sheep and goat were also kept in the territórium around Aquincum. The former were certainly kept for their wools and both species for their meat. These animals had a 58 Vörös, I., Animal bone finds from the Imperial settlement of Balatonaliga (in Hungarian). A Veszprém Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei. 19-20 (1993-1994) 195-214. He found that juvenile cattle had a withers height of between 120.0—130.0 cm, adult cows had a withers height between 125.4—127.0 cm, the single bull had a withers height of 137.7 and their was an oxen with a withers height of 136.7 cm. These were strong boned animals of medium to large size chiefly used in plowing and transport. Interestingly enough an actual iron plow blade was found in the excavations. It was badly worn with a shovel shape typical for heavy plows of this period.