Fehér György szerk.: A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei 1992-1994 (Budapest, 1994)
TAKÁCS ISTVÁN: Cumanian animal keeping at Szentkirály, a 15th-16th century site in Central Hungary
With the exception of a few articulated skeletons, these bones belonged to the kitchen refuse left behind after the butchering and consumption of animals. Complete skeletons, in many cases, may be interpreted as ritual deposits (e. g. construction offerings). Even a cattle skeleton has been recovered from a carefully plastered pit at Szentkirály. This, however, may have belonged to an animal killed by disease and enterred in a special, sealed feature to prevent further infections. It is interesting that the horns were cut off in order to rescue the valuable sheath. The lack of skinning marks, however, indicates that the hide had not been removed from the carcass. 3. Animal keeping and economic history Only a few bones could be subjected to a metric analysis due to the high fragmentation of this meterial. Measurements taken after von den Driesch 2 are summarized in Table 2. Table 2 Bone measurements from House complex 4-4/a (mm) . GL Bp Sb Bd Dp SD Dd Cattle radius — 20.5 — — 13.0 7.0 — metacarpus 201.8 61.4 34.0 66.3 39.0 23.0 33.8 tibia 317.8 — 29.6 54.6 — 21.0 40.2 Sheep humerus — — — 32.1 — — 26.3 metatarsus — 21.8 11.7 — 21.2 10.0 — Horse radius — — — 85.0 — — 52.3 radius — 87.0 — — 55.5 — — metacarpus 229.5 47.5 30.3 48.4 32.2 21.8 35.0 metacarpus — 57.8 — 39.5 — — phalanx 1 (ant.) 83.7 60.2 39.0 51.4 37.6 21.9 26.7 phalanx 1 (post.) 88.2 55.7 35.0 48.0 38.7 20.5 26.2 Goose ulna 97.5 — — — — — — Amon| the remains of cattle (Bos taurus L.) bones of a small type of brachyceros character occured. These animals measured 114.8 to 124.7 cm at their withers 4 . The fragmented material probably also contained bones from larger individuals. The bones of sheep (Ovis aries L.) also derive from small animals. Pig (Sus ser of a L.) remains belonged to a form of medium size with a long rostral region characteristic of primitive types. The possibility that pigs may have been castrated is clearly shown by the canine tooth of a subadult individual. While the length
