Folia archeologica 8.
Barkóczi László: Császárkori edényégető telep Bicsérden
88 L. Barkóczi The beginnings of the settlement cannot be put earlier than the end of the first and the early years of the second centuries. All evidence seems to point to the surmise that life in the settlement did not survive the early years of Marcus Aurelius' reign when it must have fallen victim to destruction by raiders as is suggested by a single find of Marcus Aurelius' middle bronze that had been completely burnt through. It must also be added that the same date of settling must be assigned to a number of native settlements elsewhere in East Pannónia as we shall see later on in the course of the present paper. Summing up what has so far been said, we are forced to assume that smaller or larger groups of native inhabitants must have moved from South-west Pannónia into the neighbourhood of Pécs. 5 1 This movement of the population probably hung together with the important commercial road connecting Savaria-Keszthely —Pécs though the other commercial road along the Drave, might also have had a share in it. Following closely upon the occupation of East Pannónia by the Romans, the spontaneous or the officially inspired movement of the inhabitants, has left its earliest evidence in the cemetery of Keszthely—Újmajor. Thereafter the second stage was introduced by the setting up of the Limes under the reigns of Domitian and Trajan, when West and South-west Pannonian ethnic elements began to penetrate even into East Pannónia. This must have been the historical background for settlements like Bicsérd and others of the same type. 5 2 It is a matter of special interest that the Bicsérd settlement could not have been founded much before the turn of the first century A. D. The earliest date for a re-settlement of the native inhabitants in East Pannónia can be observed in other localities as well. Contemporaneous with Bicsérd is the native settlement at Balatonaliga, too, 5 6 that can hardly have existed before the end of the first century since no evidence is available pointing to early Roman or to preimperial times. A similar date must be assigned to the tumulus burial grounds in East Pannónia. 5 7 A considerable amount of grave goods are available from Pátka, 5 8 from Mezőszilas, 5 9 from Alsószentiván 6 0 and Felsőcikola, 6 1 but no objects and no phenomena, have so far been observed in these places that would point to days before the Roman occupation, or even to the first century or so of the Roman empire. These observations naturally raise a question for the reasons and causes that led to the re-settlement of the native population in Pannónia and to the appearance of the tumulus burial grounds not earlier than the end of the first century A. D., since they seem to have no antecedents whatsoever dating back to days prior to that period. To answer this question we ought to excavate all the vici of the native population in East Pannónia and have all the observations published concerning the tumuli. No systematic investigations have so far been set on foot, and the material from the burial tumuli are only just being prepared for publication. No tumuli were found at Bicsérd, nor at Balatonaliga though the relation of these two settlements to tumulus burials, must be clearly envisaged if for no other reasons than for reasons of chronology. An attempt will therefore be made to throw a light on this problem as much as our knowledge of the relevant issues will allow us to do.
