Visegrád revisited: Bird remains from the 16th–17th century rural site of Visegrád-Alsóvár (Lower Castle), and the role of avian assemblages in revealing the social status of sites
Visegrád revisited: Bird remains from the 16th–17th century rural site of Visegrád-Alsóvár (Lower Castle), and the role of avian assemblages in revealing the social status of sites

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I present the exploitation of birds at the Ottoman Period (16th–17th century) rural site of Visegrád-Alsóvár located in North Hungary. Four poultry species and the jackdaw were identified from the 213 avian remains that formed 7.3% of the total bone assemblage. The species composition of the bird bone assemblage suggested that fowling was not practiced at the site, but various domestic birds were exploited for their meat, eggs, and perhaps other secondary products, such as feathers and dung. The representation of bones from poultry even exceeded that of the pig well reflecting the importance of avian meat and egg in addition to the preference for mutton in the diet of the Muslim population that inhabited the area of the Lower Castle after 1544, when Visegrád fell to the advancing Ottoman Turkish army. Sexing and ageing of several avian remains were possible owing to the presence of the medullary bone tissue in certain remains and the good preservation of tarsometatarsi from the domestic chicken. The latter also allowed biometrical analysis targeting the size of chicken raised at Visegrád-Alsóvár and its comparison with coeval and recent chickens. The presence of a medium and large size type suggested the advanced nature of bird breeding in addition to the variety of poultry at this site.

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