A Veszprém Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 23. (Veszprém, 2004)

Palágyi Sylvia köszöntése

large-scale Likas Hill tumulus, which lies 6-700 m from the main building of the Baláca Roman villa. The onetime mausoleum-like burial rose up within a cemetery surrounded by a wall. Although repeated plundering inside the burial vault has ruined the graves, at the same time the tombstone fragments and the mountings of the busti have provided important information with regard to dating and the identity of the interred. The family which erected the tomb (according to research by J. Fitz), probably settled from Central Italy to Pannónia, where they played a significant role in the life of several city communities. The domestication of burial customs observable in Central Italy can probably be attributed to this family. Also from the point of view of typology, the Baláca tumulus stands out from the ranks of the tumuli of Noricum-Pannonia, and parallels may be drawn with Italian prototypes, in a similar way to the Carnuntum group known as „Rundgräber" (round graves). It was Sylvia Palágyi who first observed this type in Eastern Pannónia. There is no doubt that this large mound covered the ashes of the owners of the Baláca villa and their families. The dating, which is only supported by evidence obtained from completing the inscription fragments, is in dispute at present. 1287 stone fragments of various qualities from grave altars, inscriptions, images and architectural elements have been found during the course of the excavations, and a work team has analysed these. The entrance passage and vaults of the mound, which was surrounded by an enclosure wall crowned with a ledge and having a base with various divisions, were painted or covered with stucco. What could be more natural, than for Sylvia Palágyi to initiate the memorial presentation of such a uniquely significant burial, and to cooperate actively in its realisation? From the research field point of view, the monograph dealing with the Roman period tumuli of Transdanubia was an important milestone in her work and her life's path. This was published in 2000 together with Levente Nagy, and since then a German edition from the Academic Press (Akadémiai Kiadó) has also been achieved. In this work, the authors evaluate the types and structures of cemeteries and grave furniture, date the graves, and deal with the question of the origin of tumulus burials, based on literature data, surveys, drawings and other sources pertaining to tumuli, the quantity of which has doubled since the article published by Károly Sági in 1943. On her initiative, researchers excavating the tumuli of Zala and Somogy Counties also became involved in the work, but the task of organising the undertaking fell on her. This important work has filled a gap, and enabled the results of Hungarian research also to be made available, following the repertoires of Slovenia, Austria and Croatia in the works of S. Pahic, O. Urban and Z. Gregl. Her work is focused on the excavation, publication and presentation of the Baláca villa smallholding, as well as on making the results available in various ways. She began her research on the Baláca villa complex in 1976, exactly half a century after the earlier excavations initiated by Gyula Rhé were discontinued. The results of the project, originally planned to last until 2000, are now known throughout Europe, in spite of the difficulties experienced in achieving them. In its early years, the large scale project strove chiefly for the recognition of all ground plan details of the main building and for the determination of the construction periods. With the precise designation of the ground plan, earlier typological classifications lost their validity, but the newer period divisions contributed significant new perceptions for determination of the chronology of the qualitative mosaics and frescoes. Thanks to excavation of building XIII with differing orientation, as well as research carried out in the courtyard (peristylium) of the main building, it turned out that the villa in its initial form was built in the Flavius period. Analysis of the find materials discovered in the course of accurate, stratigraphie excavations also contributed to determination of the chronology of the earliest structures. When excavating the early structures, it became clear that there had been no corner projection on the main building, as had been postulated by the earlier research. Instead, traces of the structures of a later garden were discovered, and an architectural reconstruction was attempted. The earlier remains observed under the main building were later in time than the building of differing orientation: the precise determination of the ground plan and chronology of these has enriched our knowledge with regard to the construction history of the main building and has contributed significant perceptions for recognition of the individual construction periods. It also turned out that the rooms of earlier buildings, parallel to the known ground plan of the main building, were built around a courtyard larger than the later building with the peristylium. When analysing the find material, it also became clear that the main building with the known ground plan was only raised at the end of the 2nd century or at the turn of the 2nd-3rd centuries in the course of a later reconstruction, which time period coincides with the present dating of the inscriptions from the Likas Hill tumulus, and the abrupt increase in the villa farm's imports. During Sylvia Palágyi's excavations, a large cellar room was also found, which was not cleared out during the Roman period, and for this reason it contained valu17