Animal remains from the Late Medieval kitchen of the Esztergom archdiocese, Hungary - the benefits of screening

Abstract

Medieval animal remains from the Esztergom archbishopric (Hungary) were screened using 5 mm and 2 mm mesh sizes, aimed at the high-resolution study of fish and bird remains and helping to achieve better comparisons with documentary sources. This is the first medieval assemblage in Hungary recovered using screening. A total of 7,294 animal remains are studied here, representing the 14th and 15th century. The screening resulted in quantities of fish and bird bones. The large find numbers also multiplied the taxonomic diversity. In addition to the remains of new, small-bodied species, bones of young fish showed a diachronic increase in the contribution of carp and young pike to the diet. This seems consonant with the expansion of medieval fish farming. Remains of juvenile birds could also be identified. Some worked bones recovered by screening indicate the manufacturing or reparation of crossbows at the site. Thanks to these details, our material stands out among other contemporaneous animal bone assemblages from the Carpathian Basin. Comparisons between sites, however, must be done with caution, as our data are qualitatively different from others. Large bones of livestock and the near absence of those from large game may be interpreted in the light of other hand-collected samples, while fish and bird remains and even the abundance of brown hare need to be seen in part as a product of high-resolution recovery. The newly discovered spectrum of animal remains could be profitably interpreted in the light of late 15th century accounting books of the archbishop. Although these documentary sources slightly post-date our material, they shed light on the complexities of meat procurement between possibly local production and trade.