Szőllősy Csilla - Pokrovenszki Krisztián (szerk.): Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis - Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei. C. sorozat 45. (Székesfehérvár, 2017)
Tanulmányok/közlemények - Régészet - Keszi Tamás: A nagyrévi kultúra szimbolikus ábrázolásokkal díszített urnái Kiapostag - Dunai-dűlő lelőhelyről. Alternatív javaslat a Budapest - Pannonhalmi úti edény ábrázolásának értelmezésére
Tamás Kesgi: Cinerary urns from the Nagyrév Culture ornamented with symbolic representations found at the Kisapostag — Dunai-dűlő site Grave No. 100 There was no contour of gravefill; it was found during the removal of the soil from the surface as a ‘precautionary measure’. The fragmentary upper part of the urn has collapsed under the weight of the soil (Fig. 6, No. 2), but all shards have remained in place, except the handle (Fig. 6, No. 3). During the excavation, fragments of the vessel’s neck were tightly attached to the vessel’s shoulder (Fig. 7, No. 1). The location of the vessel fragments excludes the possibility that the handle was removed from the grave when it was tampered with by a human or an animal. The deliberate mutilation of the vessel in connection with the burial is also out of the question: we are not aware of any similar ritual in the Nagyrév Culture, and fragmentation observed in other cultures is also of a different nature. Therefore, the vessel must have been damaged earlier during use: it was an everyday object that only became a cinerary urn at the end of its life cycle.45 The bowl used to cover it has remained in good condition (Fig. 9, No. 4). From the south-eastern segment of the urn, among the ashes, a broken mug was found, which can be associated with the Nagyrév Culture (Fig. 7, No. 2; Fig. 10, No. 1). Immediately under the vessel, human teeth were found, and under them, large skull fragments (Fig. 6, No. 3), which is in line with the observations made regarding the burial rituals of the Vatya Culture (successor of the Nagyrév Culture), where ashes were placed in urns in an anatomical order, starting from the feet.46 Nevertheless, jaw fragments were also found at the very bottom of the urn, and it was also observed in the case of other graves in the cemetery that, even if there were people who sought to do so, not all groups of the community gathered the ashes in an anatomical order. The bottom diameter of the urn is 11.7 cm, the largest diameter of its belly is 45.6 cm, its rim diameter is 34.3 cm, its height is 42.7 cm, and the wall thickness is approx. 8 mm (Fig. 7, No. 3). Its material was tempered with sand and crushed potter}'. The bottom is profiled; the neck and body form a curve. Its surface is burnished both on the inside and out; however, the polished surface came off in many places during the washing. The vessel was poorly fired. It is dark grey with light yellow and ochre spots. A 1.3—2 cm wide band of clay runs around the belly of the vessel, which creates a triangular projection at the side opposite the handle. Here, too, the main scene is located opposite the handle: a figure was engraved above the outjutting part of the decorative band, whose ‘legs’ touch the decorative band on the two sides of the triangle (Fig. 8). The body is made up of three rectangles, and the other limbs originate from the two sides of the body (Fig. 9, No. 1). Two ‘threefingered arms’ are connected to the lower rectangle, and above one of the two ‘two-fingered arms’ is connected to the upper rectangle, while the other one to the line where the upper and the middle rectangle meet. At the top two corners of the upper rectangle, the lines forming the sides of the rectangle extend beyond the rectangle and bend outwards in a V-shape. The body and the limbs are made up of two lines, while the shorter sides separating the rectangles in a ladderlike pattern are made up of three lines. The upper part of the figure’s body extends beyond the shoulder of the vessel and continues on its neck. Above, there are approx, four engraved lines — their exact number is difficult to tell because they are similar to the marks generated in creating the form of the vessel. The space between the handle and the figure is filled with similar symmetrically composed motifs on both sides. Their sides are made of a zigzag motif drawn with a double line, which are open at the bottom and touch the decorative band. Above, the zigzags are also linked by a double line that runs along the joint of the vessel’s shoulder and neck. Approximately at the middle of these upper lines, three times three vertical grooves were incised. At the inner side of the zigzags that are closer to the handle, a W-shaped motif, drawn with a double line, is connected to the nook in the middle (Fig. 9, No. 2). Under the handle, the comb motif is made up of a horizontal staple-like motif drawn with a double line with its points facing upwards. From the lower, horizontal component, nine more or less parallel, simple incised lines run towards the bottom of the vessel (Fig. 9, No. 3). Within the horizontal band, above the lines, there are impressed dots, some of which are more recognisable — in one of them, there are even traces of white inlay. Originally, all lines were incrusted, but this has only remained in some places. 45 According to certain observations, the vessels found in the graves were particularly prepared for burials: BONA 1963, 19; CSANYI 1983, 49, 57. Rózsa Schreiber hypothesises that the small jug found in grave No. 21 of the S^igelsgentmik/ós - Felsőtag cemetery had no handle at the time of its burial: KALICZ-SCHREIBER 1995, 9. For further examples confirming that the vessels placed in the graves show signs of wear and tear or were no longer suitable for their original purpose, see: GUCSI 2009, 454; P. FISCHL et al. 2001, 166; V1CZE 2011. 46 BÓNA 1975, 52; VICZE 1992, 92. Regularities were observed in the gathering of ashes also in the Middle Bronze Age graves excavated in the area of the Körös River: DUFFY et al. 2014, 3. In contrast, many examples are known when the ashes were not collected and placed into the urns in an anatomical order: I IA.JDU 2009, 402, 404, 4011; 2016, 36; HAJDÚ et al. 2016, 359. 19
