Somogyi Múzeumok Közleményei 17/A. - Régészet (2006)

Magyar Kálmán: Balatonszabadi-Pusztatorony régészeti kutatása Középkori templom temetőjének leletei I.

191 The excavation of the area of the Middle Age in Balatonszabadi-Pusztatorony in late spring of 1983.1. KALMAN MAGYAR In 1982 I discovered, by accident, an archeological treasure namely (Figure 2. 1.) the church on the top of the hill, (Figure 2. 2.) and the old village Szabadi which lay in a northeasterly direction from the hill. This was during the local inspection of the remarkable treasure of 5038 pieces of coins and jeweleries from the Middle Ages, that had been found on the field in Balaton-szabadi-Pusztatorony. We started the excavation of the area of the Middle Age ruins in Pusztatorony in late spring of 1983. For one and half months we continued the excavation in 5 explorationtrenches. In the l-IV segment (IV/2) we were able to bring the church to light. The church was made of stone and brick and had a small tower attached to it, with two other rooms (which might have been the sacristy) on the northern side of the building. The church can be dated back to the 11-14th century. This is based on the other acheological findings such as tombs and other objects discovered around the church. In 1333 - 1334 the church already played a significant role in the area. Around this time a massive tower stood nearby covering an area of 11 by 8 meters. A cemetery was found 35 meters from the western portal of the church. It was encircled by a ditch with a width of 6 meters, and a depth of 3 meters. In addition to the general findings, in the cemetery of the Middle Age church from 12-15th century, we found bronze belt-plates, pressed and decorated with dots or indas and with patterns of Gothic flowers on them. Some of these characteristic were already known from the excavations in Kaposvár, Somogy Province, and from the cemetery of the clan-centre in Bodrog-Alsó-Bű. The so-called filigrained pieces have already been published in many parts of the country. (Figure 6.4.) The three pressed bronze pieces with the flower pattern that we found (Figure 6.1-3) are remarkable and were made with highly valued skills. The belt-plates we found in grave number 31 can be considered a unique finding in the province of Somogy. (Figure 6. 9-22) The same goes for the belt with ornaments made of bones that we found in the exploration trench nr.1, segment nr. IV. (Figure 7. 1-4). In grave number 31 we found a bent belt-end with the text minusculas plus a further 9 belt-plates that were smaller, filigrained and rosetted, and a circle-shaped bronze clip with an engraved net-ornament and the Gothic text „majusculas". According to Dr. Pál Lövei, another bronze clip found with the text of „STVNZ AN MIER" might have been made in the Germanic areas. Dr. Lővei reads this old-German text as „CHIP ON ME", which is a call for protection against attack. The coins discovered may have been from the late 14th century or the early 15th century. The elements of the the bone-belt such as the belt-stiffener (Figure 7. 4.) and the belt-end (Figure 7. 1.), the squareshaped pierced bone-belt ornament (Figure 7. 3.) and the related bone-end, that imitate a bronze one (Figure 7. 2.) are very special. Their age is defined by the dates of the coins found together with them, namely the late 14th century and the early 15th century. We know only the square pieces of beltornaments from Kötcse and Somogyvár in the province of Somogy. We can state that these belts with the Gothic pressed flowerpattern (Figure 6. 1-3.) and other ornaments might have been worn only by the most honourable and wealthist persons. Only they were allowed to be buried near to the arch or in other places within a church. The person wearing the belt with the German text inscribed on it was buried also in the churcharea. A diploma dating from 1370 does refer to the community that buried their dead in the church of Szabadi, namely the nobiles de Zabady i.e. the noblemen from Szabadi. Probably they and the early settlers, the„szabadok" (editor: „szabad" in Hungarian means „free"), the people with the legal status of freedom, and their descendants were buried here, as well. Archeologists have found persons wearing the so-called bone-belts and the round-shaped belt-clips with text on it (see Perkáta-belt) in the cemeteries in Pusztatorony. Scientists identified them as Cuman. We have reason to believe that the person who wore the round-shaped belt-clip with the text of „STVNZ AN MIER" i.e „chip on me" found in the grave nr. 31 in Pusztatorony, Balatonszabadi, was a warrior, and one who had been in many fights in the late 14th and / or the early 15th century. Based on our current findings, we cannot confirm though, that the person was a Cuman. Finally, we conclude that the findings in the church and around in Balatonszabadi-Pusztatorony are one of the most significant and remarkable findings of Hungarian cultural history of the 14th and 15th century, not only because of the unique pieces amongst the findings but in their quantity, too.