Cseri Miklós – Tárnoki Judit szerk.: Népi építészet a Kárpát-medencében a honfoglalástól a 18. századig – A Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Múzeumok közleményei 58. (2001)
Tari Edit: Faépületek az Árpád-kor népi építészetében
Wooden houses in the vernacular architecture of the Arpadian age EDIT TARI We have several methods to examine our architectural heritage, however we can divide the knowledge about a building into two big groups: to the category of the written material and to that of the objects. Latest research suggests that the use of wood was more widespread than the remained historic and architectural remains made us assume so far. Wood was namely used to build dwelling houses and farm buildings, was built in roofs, fences, bridges and the structures of mottes, furthermore, wood was typical for the architecture of well-to-do communities too. The subject is not new. Several essays referring to our subject were published in Hungary during the past decades. We discovered more and more data in the studies analysing the written sources of the period, presenting the results of archaeological excavations as well as in ethnographic works and essays dealing with church history. The first publication in this field was written by Flóris ROMER in 1870, which appeared under the short title: "Wood-houses". Both, ethnography and archaeology deal with the subject of wooden buildings. They can mutually complete each other's research in important questions, since their sampling and methods are different. One can supply details about the forerunners, the other provides help with identifying analogies and making reconstruction. I have collected so far 133 written and archaeological data from the 10 th century up to 1520. Records often mention wooden houses in the context that they were dismantled and transported away or that their carrying away was prohibited. Records in the 13 th — 14 th century mention not only wooden houses but also that they were transported away and put together again after dismantling. The transporting of the houses of serfs could be general practice at the end of the 15 th century, since the prohibition in article 22 of the law of 1495 refers to this fact. A part of the buildings unearthed in excavations was certainly farm building but it is difficult to find out in case of buildings without oven, whether they were human dwellings, farm buildings or stables. Subterranean houses as well as houses built on the surface could have log-walls. Can we call in such a case the dug-out a log-house? When collecting data of log-houses, I did not make difference between subterranean log-houses and those built on the surface, since we know examples when the groundsill of the log-house was sunk in the soil. Archaeological data let us keep apart log-houses, houses with ground-sills, pile-structured houses, houses with wattle and daub walls, with board walls, houses with boarding inside. Numerous wooden buildings were erected on a stone foundation. We have many archaeological data referring to wooden farm buildings. The time of wood construction has been finished in Hungary in the middle of the last century. This archaic construction technology can be met only in the barns. 186
