Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. Az István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 23. 1984-1985 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1987)

Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Biró Mária, T.: Gorsium bone carvings. p. 25–63.

(IV. 78) and Suetonius (Aug. 4) are naming these bone or alabaster jars narthecium. The Romans called the wide range of cosmetics, including ointment, perfume and paints, unguentum. Unguentum could be, according to their mixture (honey, wine, oil), a corpus of liquid, sucus or of solid state. More recent literature tells us that most of the unguentums was a thick paste, put on the face with the help of pointed, long sticks or more rarely with implements having a flat, oval tip. Kent (Kent Hill 1965, 187—190) proved convincingly in one of his articles that a large part of the bronze and bone implements which were thought to be discemiculum, stilus or fibula are mostly applicators used for unguentum. I am convinced that the stick found in the uicus and decorated with the astragal motive was put to the same use. The two jar fragments and both spatulae at Gorsium are further relics of Roman body cult and cosmetics. The unadorned parallels of the bone jar are known from Intercisa (Alföldi 1957, 655), from Savaria (Mócsy 1954, 25) and from the tumuli at Mezőszilas (Kiss 1957, 40—53). The classic form of the jar decorated with Amor is known from Pompei (MAU 1908, 300—401). There was also a similar top and bottom of a jar in building VII; and from the site of villa I there was a jar bottom identifiable as a sporadic find. The needles at the nympheum were of two early types; a flat topped, long eyed needle for thick yarn (Figs. 53, 54) and another one, circulation section with a burned, the figure right shaped, hole for an eye (Figs. 49, 50). The three-eyed needles were represented by the largest numbers (Figs. 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60). As a characteristic find of Roman excavations they are usually published as needles. The question presents itself: why were three eyes necessary? In my opinion the threed-eyed needles were pins to fasten dress and I reconstruct their use according to the annexed diagram (PI. 6). It is easy to pass through loose fabric, shawl or cloak even with a bone pin. The fixed pin can then be looped round at the lease with yarn, once or several times (Hjärthner—Holdar 1975—77, 235—255). The three eyes secure the yarn and, as seen in the illustration, the looping where both ends of the yarn pass through the central eye and the stress is spread evenly between the two smaller holes, will give a secure but easily sliding, adjustable loop. Needle and yarn together worked as a fibula. The specimens of three-eyed needles from Gorsium are not larger than an average needle but 17 cm long specimens are also known. Along the walls of building IX near the nympheum, (Buliding XV, Figs. 71—74) three-eyed needles were found among bone articles buried befors the building oiarea sacra and also to the north of it, in the north-eastern corner of the house with the T shaped corridor, built in the fourth century. This group of finds consisted of three needles and a nail-headed needle (Fig. 73). The nail-headed needle occurs very frequently at the turn of the 2nd-3rd centuries at Noricum (RUPRECHTSBERGER 1978, Nr. 223—229). They are much rarer in Pannónia ; there are only two known specimens at Gorsium as well. Among the finds two from the three needles are three-eyed (Figs. 71, 72). According to the sketches representing sections, these objects do not belong to building XV, for this is the place where a fort built in the second half of the first century had been filled Fig. 11. The employment of three-holed clothes pin in after the Dacián wars. Three-eyed needle occur at the north part of the residential block dating from the time of Severus together with the nail-headed needle at a findspot which is, in no way, later than the middle of the 2nd century. Based on these facts we can date the three-eyed needles. They appear in the fifties of the first century and were worn until the Markomann campaigns. The fashionable three-eyed needle, ifit was indeed a dress pin, preceded the common use fibulae which were cheap and manufactured in masses. Finds from the pit found in section 2 10/825 (Figs. 75—81) In the NE part of the area sacra there was a small group of buildings consisting of a second-third century shrine and a dwelling house from the 4th century. Before the complete uncovering of the site, several bone objects came to light from a pit in section 210/825: an decorative pin, a cube and two sticks (Fig. 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80). Specimens, corresponding in each millimeter to the cone-headed, double projecting ring decorative pin, may be found in the collection of several museums (MNM inv. nr. 54.66.4; BTM inv. nr. 52.682, 52.680, 52.729, unpublished). This motive is common at Gorsium as well; the conehead, double projecting ring can be found on the site of the house with fresco dated to the Severus era, at the forum, in building VII near the west fountain of the nympheum and in the great public well. Very probably it is an early motive. The Forum (Figs. 83—130) When I finished collecting my material in 1970, only the south side of the vast building had been uncovered. At present it is known that buliding XIV is no other than the row of shops lining the forum of Gorsium. At both wings 34