Marta, Liviu: The Late Bronze Age Settlements of Petea-Csengersima (Satu Mare, 2009)

VI. Annexes

probably Bovidae. The minimum number of individuals (calculated on the basis of upper and lower 2nd molars) was 16. The slaughter age was clear only in the case of 32 bones: there were 23 bones that originated from adults, 7 from subadults and 2 from juveniles (calf). This aspect doesn’t plead for a majority of adults because, in general, ossified bones are preserved better. Their presence attested that besides a source of meat, they were used for milk, leather and as beasts of burden. The percentage for each area of the body (in order to identify the guality of meat) is a little forced and off balance because of the ligh number of teeth).Teeth are the most resistant elements in the body, thus their large number is not necessary related to the big number of skull elements in the site. According to that, the situation stands as follows (Table 3):- category A (the best quality): 17,7%- category B (good quality): 22,91%- category C (the worst quality): 5,37%, teeth prevailed in number: 40,62 % of the Bovidae bones!

The great quantity of teeth might distort the real situation. The other categories of bones had similar quantities which proved that the Bovidae were the animals preferred by that society and were bred for all the functions they could provide: food, milk, leather and probably even for traction.

Table 3. The distribution in percentage of the Bovidae bones according to meat quality, the Suciu de Sus culture.

Sus scrofa (swine)

Pigs, although much less in number than cattle (23: 4,66%), took the second place in what concerns the quantity of elements present at the site. As in the case of Bovidae, a large number of elements from adult animals was noticed, especially elements of the mandible/ maxilla/ teeth (68%!), which are the most resistant parts of mammals. The minimum number of individuals is established based on the mandibles/3rd molars: MNI=8. When establishing the slaughter age, the high acidity of the soil should be taken into consideration, which influenced the better representation of adults, as they have resistant bones. The distribution in percentage of the pig bones according to meat quality is presented in table 4, which illustrates that the number of elements with low quality meat was litde - only two teeth - thus, except for the mandible fragments (that belonged to category B) and the teeth, all elements belonged to category A. Thus, the finds proved that pigs were the main providers of meat and fat (assumed to have been their main role).

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