Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis 16.-17. (1978-1979)

Kozák Károly: Az egri vár Árpád-kori temetőjének feltárása I.

Károly Kozák DISCLOSURE OF THE ARPADIAN-AGE CEMETERY IN THE FORTRESS OF EGER During the reconstruction of the Dark-Gate between 1973—1974 and with the construction of a new service-building near its southern side, very much earthwork had to be done in order to free the place. On the territory between the southern wall of the Dark-Gate and the northern wall of the Szépbástya (Beautiful Bastion), we penetrated down to a depth of 8,5 meters, where the graves of an Arpadian-age cemetery appeared. (Picture 1—2.). In the Romanesque cathedral and during the disclosure of its close surroundings, we have found many graves, grave-yard parts — which with the one disclosed and made known now, are remains of burials taking place before the medieval cathedral had been built and enlargened. We should like to begin the systematic and continuous elaboration of this large burial ground, containing more 1000 graves, with this work. South-east of the cemetery ground to be disclosed now, we uncovered the remains of some houses, originating from the Arpadianage. The finds of the place might be of help at the time of a final evaluation, connected with the determination of these graves, the time of destruction of this village, the number of its inhabitants, etc. In our dissertation we shall introduce the 49 graves uncovered in 1974. (Picture 3). The graves now mentioned, remains of an Arpadian-age grave-yard, uncovered near the Dark-Gate (Segment A) are only a quarter of the cemetery (picture 4—14) and therefore following evaluation can be considered only as a preliminary one. On basis of the cemetery map, the order of the graves, the depth, and the grave furniture, we have in front of us a Hungarian cemetery of commons, arranged in rows. After our researches made till now, we ranged the graves of the cemetery in there layers, within which the rows can be perceived. (Picture 10—13 — 14). 1st stratum. On the very bottom, deepened in the rock, the graves are ranged in two rows, at a depth of 191—225 cms. Among these which were deranged, when the base-ditch was dug, grave No. 203 was the richest in finds. (Pict. 5.). We can find its nearest comparitive in grave No. 1 of the cemetery, which was determined to originate from theX—Xlth centuries, in Nádudvar-Töröklaponyag. Worthy of attention are the remains of bark, which relate to coffins of bark, and the man-shaped pits. (Graves No. 219,238 and 245). We found comparison material to this grave form during the excavations of the me dieval cathedral of Kalocsa. (Pict. 11.). In this stratum some double-graves were noticeable (man and woman). Graves No. 219—220 and 231 — 232. 2nd stratum. The depths of the graves, wich can be ranged in 3 rows, changed between 152 and 193 cms. (Pict. 13). In this stratum, the middle row is the most homogeneous concerning depth. (174—185 cms). The orientation can be considered as homogeneous,, too. In grave No. 225, a silver coin clings to the inner side of the left omoplate. The coin is determined to be from the time of Stephan III. (1162-1172). (Pict. 7 and 12). This silver coin is a very important find, considering the age determination of the stratum-row. The break down by sex and age of the graves of this layer is : 4 men, 5 women, 2 children. 3rd stratum. It might be possible that the not yet evaluated graves of segment A, could 169-