Zalai Múzeum 14. Müller Róbert 60 éves (Zalaegerszeg, 2005)

Horváth László: Ló alakokkal díszített római kori edény Magyarszentmiklósról (Zala megye)

Ló alakokkal díszített római kori edény Magyarszentmiklósról (Zala megye) 85 — The history of Transdanubia during the Late Bronze Age. Budapest 1988. E ART CELTIQUE L art celtique en Gaule. Katalog. Ed.: Duval, A. Heude, D. Marseille-Paris-Bordeaux-Dijon 1984. MEGAW 1970 Megaw, J. V. S.: Art the European Iron Age. Bath 1970. MÜLLER é.n. Müller R.: A római- és a népvándorláskor Zala megye területén. In: Zala megye ezer éve. Tanulmánykötet a magyar államalapítás milleniumának tiszteletére. Szerk.: Vándor L. - Kostyál L. Hely és é.n., 17-24. MÜLLER-STRAUB 2002 Müller, R. - Straub, P.: Germánén am Plattensee. Austellungskatalog. Red.: Windl, H. Traismauer 2002. Horse figure decorated Roman pottery In 1978 on the northern side of Magyarszerdahely an archaeological site was found (Pic. 1, 2 A-D). The site exhibited many different periods. In the southwestern part a rescue excavation was launched (Pic. 1, 2 C). Pit C/l (Pic. 1, 3) revealed pottery fragments datable to the late Roman period (Pic. 6), including fragments of an unparalleled jar with burnished decoration (Pic. 2-5). From these fragments, the shape could be reconstructed, as well as the decoration on its shoulder. The neck of the jar was decorated with vertical burnished lines, whilst the shoulder was decorated with diagonal grid motifs under which a procession of horses could be seen. The central figures of this procession are two horses facing each other. One of them exhibits a sun-disk on its head. Another horse, quite uniquely, seems to be ready for mating. Luckily, the preserved fragments allowed us to arrange the procession in a logical order (Pic. 5). Similar horse representations are far from our jar both in time and in space. Only Late Bronze and Iron Age analogies can be cited but these are similar to the one above only in that they are decorated with horses. Moreover, the horse decorations of these analogies are distinctive in that the representations are simpler. Hence it is considered that horse representations from the Bronze and Iron Ages are not true analogies. What OTTOMANYI 1982 Ottományi, К.: Fragen der spatrömischen eingeglatteten Keramik in Pannonién. Budapest 1982. OTTOMÁNYI 1991 Ottományi К.: Késő római kerámia a leányfalui őrtoronyból. — Die Keramik von Burgus in Leányfalu. StudCom 22 (1991) 5-144. OTTOMAN YI-GABLER 1985 Ottományi K. - Gabier D.: Római telepek Herceghalom és Páty határában (A pátyi terra sigillata). StudCom 17 (1985) 185-271. PUS 1971 Pus, I.: Zarnogrobiscna nekropola na dvorsc и SAZU v Ljubljani. Ljubljana 1971. SZŐKE 1996 Szőke, В.: Das völkerwanderungszeitliche Graberfeld von Kilimán-Felső major. Antaeus 23 (1996) 29-59. from Magyarszerdahely (Zala County) may connect these horse representations, however, is that they may represent fertility and/or Sun cults (Pic. 7). Some researchers consider that pottery that exhibits similar burnished decoration, (but not the horses) can be assigned to different ethnic groups, such as Huns, Alamani and Goths. It is often considered that these groups occupied Pannónia in 380 AD under the status of foederati. In recent years, however, Péter Kovács has argued that foederati populations may not have settled in Pannónia. He considers that pottery with burnished decoration can be assigned to provincial populations who became increasingly poor and were exposed to acculturation by barbarians. Similar material culture is not characteristic of one region but can be found all around the province. To the writer's knowledge, the jar from Magyarszerdahely is unique in the Carpathian Basin and it was most probably made in the second part of the 4

th century, possibly in the last third of it, or perhaps at the beginning of the 5

th century. It is considered that the jar may have been used during fertility and/or Sun cults. Although this unique find cannot be assigned to an ethnic group, it represents a period of the Roman era when the population of Pannónia were increasingly becoming acculturated by barbarian tribes. Translated by Eszter Kreiter