Janus Pannonius Múzeum Évkönyve 13 (1968) (Pécs, 1971)

Régészet - Kralovánszky, Alán: The Paleosociographical Reconstruction of the Eleventh Century Population of Kérpuszta. Methodological Study

84 KRALOVÄNSZKY erosion evidently. The overwhelming majority of the deepest graves lacks any furniture. The above data bear out the conclusion that at Kérpuszta the depth of the grave does not furnish any immediate, positive information on social stratification. However, this negative result is equally important, since it allows us to that the Kérpuszta ponulation did not want to express social distinction or any other character by the depth of the grave. Also the data on the depth of the graves lead us to the result that children's graves were not dug deeper than 100 cm (their majority lay between 25 and 50 cm), whereas the graves of adults are known from a depth between 50 and 150 cm (Table 9.) d) Preparation of Graves As regards the ritual preparation of graves no specific phenomenon could be observed at Kérpuszta. Consequently it is the most probable that having, dug the pit, the deceased was placed unto the horizontally levelled bottom of the grave immediately. e) Covering of the Dead We have no specific data as to the covering of the dead at Kérpuszta. The corpse seems to have been buried without a coffin, it was not wound up into a cerement or matting, etc. f) Position of the Dead The observed skeletons have been buried on their backs, in an extended position. g) Position of Lower Arms The position of lower arms could be observed in 267 + 6 = 273 cases. Divided according to sex, the picture is the following: children = 62 cases from 157; females = 101 cases from 118; males = 104 cases from 120. The great percentage of the adults allows us to draw conclusions (Table 10). The data bear out the inference that the types of hand-hold II, V, VI and VII show a decreasing tendency inside the chronology of the cemetery. In the contrary, types I, III, IV. VIII, IX, X and XI are gaining ground. These changes are due to the religious rites of Christianity. Finally the cases in which one of the lower arms was missing deserve mention. The left forearm was missing in the following graves: grave no. 44, a child of 11 years; grave no. 45, a child of 2 to 3 years (the whole left arm); grave no. 241, a woman of 64 years. The right forearm is missing in grave no. 140, containing a male of 57 years, and in grave no. 260, that of a woman of 44 years. Szőke** thought of the 38 Szőke, 1953 295. maiming of the corpse or the traces of judicial punishment in these cases. Whereas we may imagine it in the case of adults, it is unlikely as regards children, especially as one of them lacked the whole left arm. Either the bones mouldered off in the meantime, or the eventual amputation was due to some disease. It is worth noticing, however, that individuals lacking forearms have been uncovered in the chronologically younger section II of the cemetery without exception. This may support the thesis of legal punishment. Finally we mention that in grave no. 72 (a woman of 73 years) the left forearm was found in a vertical position. This may be due to a disturbance by an animal. Investigating the situation of lower arms in groups of sex and age, no special phenomenon may be noticed; the various hand-holds were in use in all groups of sex and age. Our endeavours to establish a possible connection with grave-furniture did not lead to any specific observation either. h) Ritual Mutilation of Human Remains There are no data regarding ritual mutilation at Kérpuszta. i) Displaced Objects of Use In grave no. 17 an S-ended hair ring was found between the thigh-bones. Though the excavators mark the grave as undisturbed, this phenomenon must be attributed to a disturbance by an animal of a minor extent, since both temple-bones show traces of oxide and also the other ring is missing. Among the right side ribs of the dead in grave no. 45. King Solomon's silver denarius was found. In eleventh century graves coins are generally uncovered either in the oral cavity or near the wrist-bones. Since the mentioned coin is not pierced, so it is no ornament of the attire, the above statement bears out the probability that the piece of imoney was deposited on the dead during the burial. In grave no. 47 the S-ended ring was found near the calvaria. This may be due to the slipping of the hair clamp or to a bend of the plait backwards. In graves no. 52 and 58 the description mentions one coin each »under the skull« or »near the cervical vertebrae«. In both cases the coin may have slipped down from the buccal cavity. In the child's grave no. 86 there was an iron knife among the right side ribs, below them. It is probable that the slipping of the sheath, worn at the waist, caused the displacement of the knife to a distance of cca 10 cm above its usual place.