A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Studia Archaeologica 6. (Szeged, 2000)

FÓTHI Erzsébet – LŐRINCZY Gábor – MARCSIK Antónia: Régészeti és antropológiai kapcsolat az eurázsiai steppe és egy kora avar kori, kárpát-medencei népesség között

LŐRINCZY 1994 Lőrinczy G.: Megjegyzések a kora avar kori temetkezési szokásokhoz. (A fülkesiros temetkezés.) — Bemerkungen zu den frühaw

arenzeitlichen Bestattungssitten. (Die Stollengräber.) In: A kőkortól a középkorig. Szerk.: Lőrinczy G. Szeged 1994, 311-335. LŐRINCZY 1996 Lőrinczy G.: Kora avar kori sír Szentes-Borbásföldről. — Ein frühem'arenzeitliches Grab in Szentes-Borbásföld. MFME - StudArch 2 (1996) 177-189. LŐRINCZY 1998 Lőrinczy G.: Kelet-európai steppei népesség a 6—7. századi Kárpát-medencében. Régészeti adatok a Tiszántúl kora avar kori betelepüléséhez. — Osteuropäische Steppenbevölkerung im 6. und 7. Jahrhundert im Karpatenbecken. Archäologische Beiträge zur frühawarenzeitlichen Einsiedlung des Gebietes jenseits der Theiß. MFME - StudArch 4 (1998) 343-372. PAP 1983 Pap, I.: Data to the Problem of Artificial cranial Deformation, Part I. Annales HistNat MNH 75 (1983)339-350. PAP 1984 Pap, I.: Data to the Problem of Artificial cranial Deformation, Part II. Annales HistNat MNH 76 (1984) 335-350. PAP 1985 Pap, I.: Data to the Problem of Artificial cranial Deformation, Part III. Annales HistNat MNH 77 (1985) 281-289. SOMOGYI 1987 Somogy, P.: Typologie, Chronologie und Herkunft der Maskenbeschläge. Zu den archäologischen Hinterlassenschaften osteuropäischer Reiterhirten aus der pontischen Steppe im 6. Jahrhundert. ArchAust71 (1987) 121-154. WENGER 1972 Wenger, S.: Anthropological Examination of the Osteological Material Deriving from the Avar Period Cemetery at Tiszavasvári (Hungary). AnthrHung 11 (1972) 5-81. ARCHEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EURASIAN STEPPE AND AN EARLY AVAR POPULATION OF THE CARPATHIAN BASIN Erzsébet FÓTHI- Gábor LŐRINCZY- Antónia MARCSIK Five hundred and twenty-three early Avar age graves from the sixth-seventh centuries were excavated at the SzegvárOromdűlő burial site under the direction of Gábor Lőrinczy. The cemetery can be characterised by its extraordinary burial customs. The burials were oriented northeast-southwest and were equally divided between pit-graves, shaft graves and niche graves. Nearly 50 burials proved to be empty graves (kenotaphs), that is, they contained neither human nor animal remains. In 95% the graves contained whole or partial remains of animals buried with the human bodies (horses, cows and calves, sheep, goats and lambs). In the case of partial animal burials a particular skinning technique was adopted here. The long bones left together with skull in the skin were removed not at the articulation, but were cut into two parts. In more than eighty graves sheep-sacra were found placed by the skull as foodstuff. In every fifth grave ceramics were found, that is some one hundred burial vessels, which in most cases were also placed at the head. Their burial cult differs from the typical burial customs of the Avars and refers to a steppe population with no Avar origin. Similar burial is also known in the South Russian steppe, which represents the early sixth century phase of Sivashovka Culture. On the basis of the known historical data about the migration of the Avars it can be assumed that other troops from the East European and South Russian steppe arrived in the Carpathian Basin with the Avars. Since the typical sixth-seventh centuries burial customs in Pontus and in the east side of the river Tisza are very much alike, it can be assumed that the population, which settled down in the region of the rivers Tisza-Körös-Maros came from the northern coastline of the Black Sea. The Szegvár-Oromdülő population is veiy interesting from anthropological point of view as well. Demographic characteristics of this group is featured by a great number of children and adolescents (juveniles), altogether sixty percent of the population. Regarding the sex distribution, the adults are characterised by a predominance of females (57%). The population of Szegvár-Oromdűlő is the most remarkable for its artificial cranial deformation, which is observed among only females. Some thirty percent of female skulls with good preservation are deformed (32 cases). The deformation is mild, and of circular (fronto-occipital) form. Some cases are characterised by foreheads running back slantwise, slightly expressed tuber bregmaticum and impressio postbregmaticum. The coronal suture rises slightly before descending to the occipit, and the occipital bone is flattened. Possibly a couple of bandages were employed: one broad band passing over the frontal bone and being secured at the nape, and the other passing over the crown of the head jointed the inion and the bregma region. In the most cases the forehead appears flattened and thrusting backwards, there is mild depression of the nape above the lambdoid suture. However, this region is not flat. In this case the extent of deformation was very mild. It is possible that this type of deformation has been effected by one bandage passing over the frontal region joined near the inion. Regarding all the deformed skulls in the Szegvár population it can be assumed that the deformation was caused by some kind of tight headwear of the girls such as a cap or kerchief tightened to the forehead and fastened at the nape.