Cattle types in the Carpathian Basin in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Ages

Csippán, Péter (2016) Cattle types in the Carpathian Basin in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Ages. DISSERTATIONES ARCHAEOLOGICAE EX INSTITUTO ARCHAEOLOGICO UNIVERSITATIS DE ROLANDO EÖTVÖS NOMINATAE SER 3 (4). pp. 179-212. ISSN 2064-4574

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Abstract

Abstract During the Late Middle Ages the intensive export of livestock increased according to contemporaneous written sources. Tax records show the custom duties paid after the huge numbers of animals. On the basis of this information we get a compact picture about the importance of this activity. Cattle trade as shown in the academic literature, was widespread in the territory of the Carpathian Basin and beyond. The export of livestock was not limited to cattle, but was also extanded to other domestic species e. g. horses, sheep and pigs. In romantic history, supported by the awakening national self-awareness in Hungary at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the iconic significance of the large, long-horned and light grey cattle consolidated.Unfortunately no archaeological finds could support the medieval appearance of these animals. Osteological evidence of these large, long-horned cattle are yet to be found. This archaeozoological aspect of Cattle trade is still to be developed. To date our perceptions have relied on the generalization of a concept in the historical interpretation of this large-scale economic activity. Research has usually focused on trade itself and not the subjects: the animals. In this paper the author presents new scientific approaches to the theme, using geometric morphometrics in the analysis of cattle bones.

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