Pásztor Emília (szerk.): Sámánizmus és természethit régen és ma - Bajai dolgozatok 23. (Baja, 2019)
Cs. Andrási Réka: A Madaras-Árvai-dűlői honfoglalás kori temető az új kutatások tükrében
The cemetery of Madaras-Árvai dűlő revisited in the light of modern research As of objects of everyday use just one artefact, an iron knife was found in grave 4. It was placed to the inner side of the right upper arm of a woman. Probably it had a straight spine and one sharp edge, but it was recovered only partially, just some part of the blade and the tang were found, thus exact type of the knife cannot be determined. In literature knifes are usually described as used by shepherds, but they can be found in female graves as well - as in this case - and their function was manifold. If the knife was worn on a belt, then it should be viewed as a part of the garment and not as a complement. If it was placed in the sabtretache or was put in the grave to prevent misfortune it should be viewed as a compliment (Tomka 1972, 68-69). Miklós Béla Szőke was researching knifes from the 9th century, the Caroling-period. In his opinion knifes found around upper arms, elbows and ribs suggest, that the clothes had a small pocket or a holster for the knife (Szőke 1994, 260). László Révész on the other hand is of another opinion that is based on some ethnographical analogies. He thinks they wore a leathers strip over their neck and the knife was hanging from it, then was tucked in to the upper clothes. (László Révész disclosed it himself). A pair of generic jewelry, the banded ring was mostly found around the head of the female burials, in grave 4 and 6. In addition one piece of jewelry was found in the second male grave, but it is possible that its pair was lost as a result of the intrusion of heavy machinery. These rounded jewels were made of silver, were not colored and of an open type. They were commonly used from the beginning of 10th century all the way to the end of the 11th century (Révész 1996, 79). The most emblematic, most beautiful relics of female graves are the braid ornaments from the 10th century. (Révész 1996, 82). In the burial site of Madaras one hollow piece was found behind the ribs on the right side of the chest. It was made of bronze and had motive depicting mythical animals. However, the buried body was disturbed by animals, thus it is not possible to decide where exactly was located the jewelry on the braid. Most hollow pieces were found around the collarbones. Earlier, based on the works of István Fodor, researchers thought that unwedded women wore a single braid ornament, while married ones a double braid ornament (Fodor 1976, 284-285). Nevertheless, this theory was proved to be wrong by other researchers. Furthermore, it was known that it was and elderly person. Thus, this grave also proves this theory wrong, as Kőhegyi also pointed out in his works (Kőhegyi 1980, 231). Similarly, hollow, casted, bronze braid ornament with depiction of mythical animals was found in Hencida, Gyula, Gálospetri, Tardoskedd, Sárrétudvari and Aldebrő for example (Révész 2008, 41).
