Bárkányi Ildikó - Lajkó Orsolya (szerk.): A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve 2019. Új folyam 6. (Szeged, 2019)
Régészet - Keresztes Noémi Ninetta - Litauszki Zoltán: Egy különleges késő bronzkori objektutípus: a halotti máglya és környezete Tar-Sztúpa alatti rész lelőhelyről (Nógrád megye)
Ninetta Keresztes Noémi - Zoltán Litauszki A special Late Bronze Age feature 'From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring../ A special Late Bronze Age feature: the funerary pyre and its surroundings at the site of Tar-Sztúpa (Nógrád Coutny) Ninetta Keresztes Noémi - Zoltán Litauszki During the widening of Route 21 between 28 September and 27 October 2017, the Móra Ferenc Museum carried out excavations during the construction works at the site of Tar-Sztúpa alatti rész, in an area of 5912 m2. The most interesting feature was a funerary pyre, which is the subject of the present paper. It was 1037 cm long and almost 290 cm wide, which makes it one of the largest pyres known so far. Its southeastern end reaches the ditch surrounding the cemetery. Their joint section clearly shows the traces of ancient use: the burnt layer from the top of the pyre was pulled into the ditch surrounding the cemetery after each cremation cycle, which continued in the fill of the ditch as well as a wavy layer sloping downwards. The incredible amount of pottery found in the pyre seems to have exploded during secondary burning, their shapes are distorted and their structure is transformed. The Late Bronze Age urnfield is located in the western part of the site, and was surrounded by a huge, circular ditch 90 m in diameter. Directly beside the ditch of the cemetery, the ditch of the settlement was discovered as well. At the bottom of both we were able to observe ash from the pyre. The pyre and the surrounding features contain the typical object types of the Late Bronze Age Kyjatice culture, furthermore a rare vessel foot as well. Beyond the pottery we found a small cattle figurine and a few clay rings as well. Among the metal objects, a bronze pin with disc-shaped head has special chronological value. Cremated human remains were found in large quantities on the top of the pyre, while in its lower layer we discovered a number of skulls and other bones. These intact bones might indicate human sacrifice, or perhaps various other forms of venerating the ancestors. The most plausible explanation for the cremated remains left there is a more or less communal burial place, or perhaps a Bronze Age belief that the new body may fly freely with the wind into the afterlife. 58
