A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 48. (Nyíregyháza, 2006)

Régészet - Scholtz Róbert: Scythian Age finds from Nyíregyháza–Volántelep

Szkíta kori leletek Nyíregyháza-Volántelep lelőhelyről Scythian Age finds from Nyíregyháza—Volántelep At the beginning of 2005 a small bronze object was given as a gift into the Jósa András Museum of Nyíregyháza. It was found during construction works of a Volán (bus company) building. The place is known as an archaeological site since the 1980s. The find assemblage includes the following objects: 3 spiral hair-rings (Fig. 2: 1-3); a bronze phalera (button?) (Fig. 2: 11); 9 beads of different size and material (Fig. 2: 4, 6-10); a spindle-whorl decorated with spirals (Fig. 2: 5); a grey, wheel-made one-handled mug (Fig. 2: 12). Among the finds we can separate two groups of different origin. The first group includes local Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age clay and metal finds (bracelet, bronze button). The objects of the second group (spiral hair-ring, wheel-made one-handled mug) had got no roots in the Carpathian Basin. The technology of wheel-made pottery, together with the spiral hair-rings considered to be ethnic indicators, appeared in the Carpathian Basin in the Scythian Age. According to our suggestion, construction works of the Volán site disturbed a Scythian cemetery that, judging from archaeological parallels, can be dated to the middle of the 7

th - 5

th century. The stray find character of the objects did not allow their more accurate dating. The original place, size and number of graves of the cemetery is unknown. The territory is densely built-in, so it is impossible to research the surroundings of the find. A possible connection with neighbouring Scythian cemeteries (Fig. 3) is the task of the further research. The historic value of the site would increase if we could prove that the cross-shaped clay bead (Fig. 2: 4) comes from the pre-Scythian Age. In this case they, together with bronze objects from Pazonyi Road, would justify that the territory of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County played a definite role in the transformations of the pre-Scythian Age. Translated by Valéria Kulcsár Róbert SCHULTZ Jósa András Museum Nyíregyháza H-4401 Pf. 57 e-mail: scholtzrobert@freemail.hu