A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 50. (Nyíregyháza, 2008)

Régészet - Fábián László: Az első szatmári honfoglalás kori sír előkerülése

NÉMETH 1996. Németh Péter: A Nyírség honfoglalás és kora Árpád-kori földrajzi képe és régészeti emlékei. In: A Kárpát-medence történeti földrajza. Szerk. Frisnyák Sándor. MTA Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg Megyei Tudományos Testülete - Nyíregyházi Főiskola Földrajzi Tanszéke, Nyíregyháza 1996. 19-30. FÁBIÁN László Csengeri Helytörténeti Múzeum H^I765 Csenger Hősök tere 3. e-mail: fabi.laci.jani@gmail.com First burial from the Age of Hungarian Conquest in Szatmár This is not a strictly speaking academic study. This is only to justify the old rule according to which freak of chance has significant role (also) in archaeology, and can produce valuable surprises. Earlier special literature dated the settlement of Hungarians in the Szatmár region only to the period following the 11

th century, because of the lack of finds from the Age of Hungarian Conquest. This opinion was contradicted by the find of the female grave with horse, unearthed in Csenger. This article tells the story of the find. It started when a widow was buried beside her husband who had died earlier, in 1957. It was the last wish of the woman, despite of the fact that she had not lived in Csenger for decades. That wish determined the finding of the ancient Hungarian grave in question. First objects were found during digging the grave-pit: two stirrups, a bridle-bit and several gilded bronze plates. The author of the article was convinced that the rest of grave-goods and the skeleton of the ancient Hungarian could be unearthed in the untouched soil. Unfortunately, only a narrow part between modern graves was intact. After long preparations, the rest of the grave with horse was excavated on October 5

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lh 1998, under the leadership of archaeologist Béla Varga. We had to face the fact that a 19

th century grave (Calvinist church used this territory as a cemetery from the beginning of the 1800s) demolished the larger part of the burial coming from the Age of Hungarian Conquest. Only the very poorly preserved skull, horse-harness and belt decoration placed at the feet remained. The burial was found in Csenger, so we named the girl buried here Csenge. We hope that further graves will be found here. László FÁBIÁN Csenger Local History Museum H^I765 Csenger Hősök tere 3. e-mail: fabi.laci.jani@gmail.com