Kovács Tibor - Stanczik Ilona (szerk.): Bronze Age tell settlements of the Great Hungarian Plain I. (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 1; Budapest, 1988)
Sándor BÖKÖNYI: Animal remains from Bronze Age tells in the Berettyó valley
Both measurable goat extremity bones, a 157 mm long radius and a scapula fragment with a 24 mm distal width (both from Gáborján-Csapszékpart) suggest rather small individuals. The domestic pigs of the three sites are quite variable, and this is true both for the size of the teeth and of the extremity bones. The average of domestic pig was certainly larger than that of Neolithic specimens; however, there occurred also conspicuously small and large animals. The latter are the so-called transitional individuals, primarily the freshly domesticated animals or, more rarely, crossings between domestic pig and wild swine. Thus, local pig domestication can be demonstrated for the Bronze Age in the Berettyó valley—as elsewhere in the Carpathian Basin. 9 This is demonstrated by the following series of lower M 3 lengths (see also Diagram 2): Lower M 3 lengths in domestic and wild pig: domestic wild 31 35 35 35.5 36 37 37 37.5 39 40 42 43 46.5 47 Diagram 2 clearly shows that the variation range of domestic and wild forms are very close to each other and that the two sexes can be easily distinguished. Nonetheless, the question is not that simple because the smallest of the upper third molars definitely comes from a boar as shown by a typical male canine in the maxilla in question. This suggests the existence of a stock consisting of individuals with a long domesticated past (these are the small-sized ones), and of other, freshly-domesticated individuals. As regards the absolute height of domestic pigs, little can be said for the three bone samples lack complete bones. Using Teichert's method 10 the withers height of a pig, based on the 43 mm greatest length of an astragalus from Gáborján-Csapszékpart was 76.97 cm, and that of another based on an 82.5 mm long calcaneus from Bakonszeg-Kádárdomb was 77.06 cm. Both were comparatively large domestic pigs. The wild swine whose molar teeth did not have large dimensions included three calcanei from Bakonszeg-Kádárdomb, partly representing large swines; one of the three calcanei with a greatest length of 98 mm suggested an individual with a 91.53 withers height (probably a sow), two others with a length of 111 and 117 mm represented two boars with a withers height of 103.67 and 109.28 cm. The latter had indeed been large-sized. The horses also show considerable variation. Bakonszeg-Kádárdomb and Gáborján-Csapszékpart both yielded mandible fragments with a premolar length of 93.5 and 92.5 mm, suggesting quite large individuals. The latter site also yielded a maxilla fragment with an 83 mm long molar row that fitted into the two former mandible fragments. The extremity bones too included similarly large remains, as well as medium-si zed and, in some cases, smaller ones. Of the two complete metatarsals (both from Bakonszeg-Kádárdomb) a 245 mm long specimen points to a horse of 127.92 mm withers height using Kiese walter 's method 11 or of 128 cm withers height using Vitt's method, 12 that means the lower range of the size variation of the Bronze Age horses of Central and Eastern Europe. 13 The other metatarsal had a greatest length of 259 mm which gives a withers height of 133.78 cm using Kiesewalter 's method and a cca 136 cm withers height using Vitt's method. The latter corresponds to the average size of the eastern horses of the European Bronze Age (as a matter of fact, both mandibles and the maxilla fragment mentioned above originate from larger horses than this). Also noteworthy is the fact that a left posterior third phalanx from Gáborján-Csapszékpart that is beautifully arched demonstrates the steppe character of these horses. In comparison to the above domestic animals the dogs are rather uniform as evidenced by the lengths of the lower first molars: 19, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20.5, 20.5, 21, 22, 22, 22.5. They are thus medium-sized, well-built dogs. The only difference is that while most specimens have a normal premolar row, others show gaps between their premolars: this could be the result of different stages of domestication. The only wolf remain, a scapula fragment with a distal width of 24.5 mm, was a strong animal of about the same size as the wolf represented by the scapula from Törökszentmiklós-Terehalom whose corresponding measurement was 24 mm (see there). The age structures or kill-off patterns of the various domestic species also illustrates the exploitation of a given species. Table 4 shows these patterns for the three sites: Table 4. Age structures of domestic animals juvenile subadult adult mature ind. % ind. % ind. % ind. % cattle 2 15.38 3 23.08 6 46.16 2 15.38 sheep/goat 1 14.29 2 28.57 4 57.14 pig 2 28.57 2 28.57 3 42.86 horse 1 25.00 — • 3 75.00 dog 5 100.00 Bere ttyóújfalu-Szilhalom juvenile subadult adult mature ind. % ind. % ind. % ind. % cattle 2 15.38 3 23.08 7 53.85 1 7.69 sheep/goat 3 21.42 2 14.29 7 50.00 2 14.29 pig 5 29.41 4 23.53 7 41.18 1 5.88 horse 1 33.33 2 66.67 dog 3 100.00 In spite of the statistically small samples, Table 4 demonstrates that in terms of age structure three groups can be distinguished among domestic species. The first group consists of pig alone: more than half of the individuals were killed before reaching adulthood, suggesting that this species was kept exclusively for its meat. Nonetheless, the 40 to 47% ratio of adult and mature pigs is a little high because we know that in
