Balogh Csilla – P. Fischl Klára: Felgyő, Ürmös-tanya. A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Monumenta Archeologica 1. (Szeged, 2010)

The Avar Cemetery at Felgyő, Ürmős-Tanya

266 BALOGH Csilla mon among the ferrules from 5th century Germanic contexts: comparable pieces include the specimens from Hódmezővásárhely-Sóshalom (NAGY 2005, 89, Taf. 20) and SzekszárdPalánk, Grave 217 (KISS 1996, 55. PI. 8), as well as Karavukovo in Serbia (BIERBAUER 1975, Taf. 3. 4). These ferrules were most likely brush ferrules.

s Although ferrules were most often found by the left pelvis (TOBIAS 2007, 335), the ones in the Felgyő cemetery were placed on the right side. In addition to the ferrule, Grave 10 also yielded a double bronze tube, deposited by the head. It is possible that this artefact can be associated with the ferrule and had been part of a toiletry set. The small hoe made from thin sheet iron recovered from Grave 108 has no known parallels. The blade and the socket were cut in one from the same sheet; the blade is fan shaped, while the socket was made by folding the sides over each other. The blade and the socket are at right-angles to each other. Hoes are rare finds in the Avar archaeological material: of the two other pieces are known to me, one comes from Grave 6 of the Adorján-Adorjáni Road cemetery in Serbia (GERE 1998. Pl. VIII. 2), the other from Grave 79, an equestrian burial, of the burial ground excavated at Devinska Nová Ves in Slovakia (EISNER 1952, Obr. 13. 4). However, both differ from the piece found at Felgyő. The double pipe made from crane bone lay inside the coffin, some 10 cm from the head of the man interred in Grave 157. Good analogies to this unusual artefact can be quoted from the Tisza region (Alattyán, Graves 285 and 477; Jánoshida-Tótkérpuszta, Grave 49; Szegvár-Szőlőkalja, Grave 109; Kunmadaras) and from Transdanubia, from the area north of Lake Balaton (Balatonfűzfő, Tatabánya-Alsógalla, Grave 288; Rácalmás-Rózsamajor; cp. KOZÁK 1997, 196-197; CSAJÁGHY 1998, 28-29). Another pipe is known from Grave 64 of the Bijelo Brdo cemetery in Croatia (MRKOBRAD 1980, Tab. XCIII. 8). The doubles pipes from Felgyő and Jánoshida, as well as one of the pieces from Alattyán lay on the deceased's right side, most likely owing to the right-handedness of the player. Ilona Kovrig noted that the graves containing bone pipes usually had an iron buckle on the right side of the chest or by the shoulder, an unusual place for buckles (KOVRIG 1963, 175). At Felgyő, however, an iron ring was found instead of an iron buckle. It has been suggested that these pipes actually came from bagpipes, from a variant of this instrument attached to the right upper arm by means of a buckled thong. The interpretation of the pipes as bagpipe chanters is tentative because bagpipe-like instruments are not known from the east and it has therefore been suggested that bagpipes of this type had perhaps evolved in Eastern Europe or the Carpathian Basin (CSAJÁGHY 1998, 61). Weapons No more than 9 of the 216 burials yielded weapons. These graves all lay scattered in the southern part of the cemetery. The single sword was found in Grave 83. The single-edged sword was placed in a wooden sheath and laid by the left shoulder of the man interred in the grave during the Early Avar period. The custom of ungirding the sword and placing it by the shoulder was at least as widespread as its placement in the position it was worn in life during the Early Avar period of the Carpathian Basin. István Bóna demonstrated that both modes of deposition had their origins in Asia, quoting examples for both practices from the east and the Carpathian Basin (BÓNA 1957, 28). Examples for both modes of deposition can also be cited from the Gepidic and Langobard burials of the Carpathian Basin. With its unusually short and conspicuously wide blade (67.8 cm by 4.97 cm), the sword resembles the short double-edged swords wielded by the Germanic peoples. Its best analogy from an Avar context comes from Grave 350 of the Szekszárd-Bogyiszlói Road cemetery (ROSNER 1999, 48^19, Taf. 24). Langsaxes were recovered from three burials (Graves 172, 225 and 233), all of which lay along the southern and south-eastern edge of the excavated cemetery section. Grave 225 was the burial of a man wearing a belt adorned with disc mounts, while the other two burials contained plain belts fastened with a simple iron buckle. Bows were deposited in three burials (Graves 197, 215 and 225). All three had been laid on the coffin in a strung condition, again a custom of Asian origin (BÓNA 1979. 29). The bone stiffening plaques for the ears and the grip of the bow were recovered from Grave 197, while only the pieces for the ears survived in Grave 215 and only the ones for the grip in Grave 225. It is unclear whether the missing plaques can be explained by intentional damage to the bow or whether the ear and grip stiffening plaques had been originally lacking from the bow. Arrowheads were recovered from three burials: one from Grave 226, three from Grave 49 and four from Grave 197. Grave 226 had been looted and thus the original position of the arrowhead is not known. Nothing but the barb survived of the arrowheads placed in Grave 49: these lay next to each other by the right knee. The arrowheads from Grave 197 had originally been kept in a quiver which lay in the position as worn during life. An iron hook found beside it was used for its suspension. The quiver's mouth had been adorned by plain bone plaques, its neck by a wide bone plaque bearing a design of symmetrically set spiral motifs originally painted in black. A bone strap-end decorated with an interlace pattern found in the same region had also been part of the quiver fittings. There are no good analogies to the quiver plaques: the plainness of the plaques adorning the mouth is rather unusual, while the decorative motif on the other plaque is likewise unparalleled among the currently known bone plaques (cp. KISS 1997; STRAUB 1997; STRAUB 2006). The bone plaque from Grave 197 of the Felgyő cemetery bears a design of symmetrically set spiral motifs. The symmetric arrangement of the ornamental elements is a typical trait of early quivers (STRAUB 2006. 163). The curved upper end of the mouth plaques too compares well with the period's early quiver plaques (STRAUB 1997, 130). The bone strap-end decorated with an interlace pattern can also be associated with the quiver. Kiss noted that these small plaques, through which the leather or textile band closing the quiver was threaded, occur not only in burials of the Middle Avar period, but are known also from Early Avar graves, such as Grave 130 of the Jutas cemetery (RHÉ-FETTICH 1931, 27, Taf. V. 4) and Grave 21 of the Kölked-Feketekapu A cemetery (KISS 1996, 25-26, Taf. 21. 12). The skeletal remains from Graves 49, 83 and 172 were not available for study. Graves 197, 225 and 233 contained the burials of adult men, while young men had been interred in Graves 215 and 226. The man resting in Grave 197 could be assigned to the Mongolid type, the individual in Grave 215 to the Europo-Mongolid type. Graves 83, 197 and 215 represent the cemetery's earliest burials. In contrast. Grave 225 can be assigned to the cemetery's later phase. The chronological position of the other graves cannot be established more precisely owing to the lack of securely datable finds among their grave goods. 8 For an overview and catalogue of the metal brush ferrules from the Carpathian Basin, cp. TOBIAS 2007, 333-336, 337.