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
A Felgyő, Ünnös-tanyai avar kori temető 275 geon tarsometatarsal were found beside the left thigh in Grave 92, a child burial. The wingbones of two domestic geese were placed beside the left thigh in Grave 108. Patina stains were noted on these bones. Grave 119 contained two hare metatarsals, four domestic hen wing bones and five domestic goose wing bones, all lying by the left hand. The hare bones were worn and perforated. Hare bones were the most frequent among animal bone amulets. 1 9 The role of perforated animal bones as protective amulets was first suggested by István Dienes (DIENES 1972). Csanád Bálint believed that assemblages of this type reflected Onogur beliefs (BÁLINT 1975, 52-53). THE INTERNAL CHRONOLOGY AND SPATIAL PATTERNING OF THE CEMETERY The 216 Avar graves uncovered at the Ürmös-tanya site do not represent the entire cemetery: it is quite certain that unexcavated burials still lie north-east, east, west and southwest of the excavated area. The cemetery was opened during the Early Avar period. The earliest burials are represented by Graves 10, 83, 92, 97, 126, 136, 197 and 215, forming separate clusters in the middle and along two edges of the uncovered cemetery section. Grave 83, the single burial containing a sword, lies in the middle. Graves 197 and 215, two male burials yielding belt sets and bows, the former also the bone stiffening plaques of a quiver, lay in the southern third. The graves were oriented north-north-west to south-south-east, and rarely contained pottery or food offerings. The finds include earrings with large or small spherical pendant, necklaces strung of a handful of eye beads, and spindle whorls. The belt mounts from Graves 83 and 215 provide good anchors for dating the early burials to the second quarter of the 7th century. The next horizon is represented by the burials from after the mid-7th century (Graves 1, 14, 32, 39, 40, 62, 108, 119, 120, 121, 157, 159 and 175). Most of these graves lay next to each other in the northern part of the cemetery, forming a north north-east to south-south-west oriented group, with the exception of three graves in the cemetery's middle. While the grave furniture from these burials is predominantly characterised by Early Avar artefacts, new types too make an appearance. Some graves yielded articles made in the Avar style. The women wore necklaces strung of the earlier eye beads together with trailed beads, millet seed beads and segmented flattened globular beads, and earrings with a large or small spherical pendant decorated with granulation. None of the belts were fitted with mounts, except for the one in Grave 62. The bone disentangling hooks and mouthpieces, as well as some of the amulets, were recovered from these burials. Another group, also falling into the same horizon, stands out by the poorness of the grave goods and the presence of artefacts reflecting a Germanic (or Gepidic) taste, rather than typical Avar wares, such as the double-sided comb from Grave 39, the shield-tongue oval buckle from Grave 89 and the iron mounts from Graves 14 and 74. New elements made their appearance in the burial rite too: most graves were north-west to south-east oriented, the grave pits and the coffins were trapezoidal, and the burials were amply provided with food offerings (marked by the presence of vessels and animal bones). Burials with harness sets can be assigned to this group too. While several finds indisputably reflect a Germanic taste, it yet remains to be proven whether these burials represent the heritage of the latest descendants of the Gepids on the eastern fringes of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve, or whether the artefacts came from some nearby settlement. The fact that the artefacts in question were found in a position conforming to the way they were worn (and were not in a secondary position) seems to contradict the latter possibility. At the same time, the currently available evidence is insufficient for confirming their possible acquisition through trade. In contrast to earlier views (BÓNA 1984, Map 24), it is by now clear that the Gepidic settlement territory extended to a 30-40 km wide zone along the Tisza (KISS 1998). "Germanic" artefacts have also been reported from other cemeteries near the river too (Abony, Gátér and Szeged-Kundomb), none of which came from the earliest graves of these burial sites. The upper boundary of the cemetery's use-life is marked by the male burials with cast belt sets, necklaces strung of late beads and earrings with oval hoop and bead pendant or prismatic bead pendant. These burials can be assigned to the close of the 8th and the onset of the 9th century (Late Avar III period). Balogh Csilla Móra Ferenc Múzeum H-6720 Szeged, Roosevelt tér 1-3. E-mail: cs_halogh@mfm. u-szeged. hu 19 For a list of sites, cp. VIDA 2002. 187.
