Savaria - A Vas Megyei Múzeumok értesítője 28. (2004) (Szombathely, 2004)

Régészet - Ilon Gábor–Tóth Gábor: Előzetes jelentés a Zsennye-kavicsbányában végzett régészeti feltárásról

SAVARIA A VAS MEGYEI MÚZEUMOK ÉRTESÍTŐJE 28 SZOMBATHELY, 2004 pp. 255-263 ELŐZETES JELENTÉS A ZSENNYE-KAVICSBÁNYÁBAN VÉGZETT RÉGÉSZETI FELTÁRÁSRÓL ILON GÁBOR és TÓTH GÁBOR S avaria Múzeum, H—9100 Szombathely, Kisfaludy S. u. 9., Hungary E-mail: ilong@axelero. hu Berzsenyi Dániel Főiskola Állattani Tanszék, H—9700 Szombathely, Károlyi G tér 4., Hungary E-mail: tgabor@deimos.

bdtf.hu PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION COMPLETED IN ZSENNYE-KAVICSBÁNYA The artifact preservation process was completed from 2002 to 2003 within therange of a few days only. After the completion of the excavation the fallowings may have been concluded: i. 25 features in total were recovered, out of which one (no. 11) was dug in during the New Age. Object no. 17 is reckoned to be a memory of'the funeralfeast. Object no. 25, containing the fragments of three pots in total and further loom-weights, is no longer regarded as a burial, rather a garbage pit of the Burial Mound Culture. ii. 'The cemetery was completely recovered, of which graves (22 in total) are placed in the shape of a double boat stretching North to South (Picture 2). Possibly a few graves were destructed in the northern tip of the cemetery due to a mine shaft stairway previously facilitated. Hi. The most respected deceased members of the community rested in graves no. 1 (disturbed by heavy duty machinery and with bronze artifact fractures), no. 13 (contemporary disturbance with a bronze dagger) and no. 15 (with bronze dagger, bronze knives, golden jewelry and a pot) in the southern wing of the cemetary. In the center of the cemetery one elder man was buried in grave no. 16 with only one pot. Hozvever, directly next to it — possibly attached? —10 pots were placed in a dug pit (no. 17). 1 lis position may refer to his special rank. iv. The orientations of the graves are homogeneous by gender, i.e. West to Fast (man: e.g.: grave no. 15) and Fast to West (woman: e.g. : garve no. 4.). 'The significance of these graves is generated to the fact that the area they were recovered at has been the first, fully and genuinely excavated cemetery connected with this culture in Vas county. 'The anthropological processing has been included in this publication. 'The wooden chunk coffin remains of grave no. 15 have been confirmed to be of oak origin fQuercus sp.). The examination of the textile remains preserved on the bronze artifacts of the same grave is still in progress. Apartfrom the above, the scheduled monographic processing of the entire cemetery would include the results of bronze and further pottery content as well as pollen tests. 'The artifacts and their expansion area in Vas county have been supplemented by the cemetery in 'Asennye, since along with the big-sized house km/wnfrom the excavation of 'Püspökkert (Romkert) in Szombathely, still being unpublished (KÁROLYI 2003: 283) it is documented as stray findings (KÁROLYI 1975: Table 5, 14) It is, however, also known from several more sites in the county (settlement: Velem-Szt. Vid, cemetery: Pecol, Sárvár, Simaság and further artifacts of uncertain features: Hegyfalu, Rábakovácsi) (KÁROLYI 1975: 186—187) The anthropological features of the Bronze Age are rather heterogeneous. The Gâta— Wieselburg artifacts of the Carpathian-basin imply both long-headed (generally mediterranean) and short-headed taxonomical factors. 'The necessary examinations could have been completed in respect to 12 persons at the 'Asennye site (a woman, 5 men, 6 unidentifiable and infants). The long head feature has been observed regarding two men. 'The calculated average body height is (men): 167.8 cm. Anatomical variations are frequent in respect to the craniums, based on which we may assume tight kinship between the persons buried, hi concern to the adults several pathological processes could have been identified (dental problems, healed bone fractures with complications, periostitis, physical stress, coxalgia and hip degeneracy and suspected meningismus). Experiments were conducted (with uncertain outcome) via Penrose-analyses to compare them with other series from the Bronze Age. 255