Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 30/1. (2010)
Articles
138 L. Vass and D. Bondoc sustain in the case of the spindle whorls from Räcari.52 The brooches recovered here are the typical Norican-Pannonian brooch types that appear on funerary monuments associated with women, as an element of their dress. It is very interesting that hairpins, as the most popular and most numerous artefacts, are represented only by two examples. This excludes the hypothesis that hairpins made of bone would be the products of the bone working workshop from this building. The waste material and debris reflects that the bone workshop produced different kind of handles and gaming pieces.53 The concentration of artefacts related to women in this barrack could indicate that this place could have been the scene of stable working activities where women could have been employed in textile manufacturing. Another concentration of artefacts of female character can be observed in two other buildings from the latus praetorii dextra. By its size and location next to the principia, one of the buildings, building no. 454 (PL 5/1), having a set of rooms (some disposing of heating system) arranged around an inner court (perystil) could have functioned as praetorium. This building dated to the 3rd century AD has a concentration of hairpins (Pi. 5/8-11) and a bead (Pi. 5/7) especially in room P.55 If we accept that officers were allowed to marry even before Septimius Severus’ edict and they lived together with their families, these objects hypothetically could have belonged to the wives and other female person of the commander’s household. Building no. 3 (PI. 5/1), which was added later to one of the corner of praetorium, on the basis of the heating system and waterproof isolating layer revealed in the rooms, was interpreted by N. Gudea as a possible bath of commanders’ use.56 Just like in building no. 4, sets of hairpins (PI. 5/2-6) were recovered within.57 The variety of hairpin types from these two buildings comparing with hairpins coming from barracks does not indicate, as we believe, a larger concentration of female presence. They could reflect rather a long termed residency of their users. As we can observe the distribution pattern of hairpins (Pi. 5/12), we can state that these artefacts were the most wide-spread and most used artefacts. It is noticeable that they are concentrated in the area where women are usually attested in forts everywhere in the Empire: barracks (Bl: PL 4/9-10; B2: PL 4/11-1358) and buildings related to headquarter. Their little number in the inner streets (PL 4/14-17) and major entrance gates either refer to the mobility of women in a fort or they are just purely coincidental. The distribution area of spindle whorls is much more restricted (PL 5/13). They appear mostly in barracks (B2, B4, B5), especially in barrack no. 5 where, as already mentioned, could be related to workshop activity. Only one item was recovered from porta principalis sinistra (PL 4/20-21).59 Whether women from this fort were working for production purpose or they were just practicing their socially imposed tasks, cannot be decided. 52 Bondoc-Gudea 2009, 196. 53 Chirilä et al. 1972, Taf. CXX/4-7; CXXI/1-6. 54 Chirilä et al. 1972, 24-27, Abb. 3. In the more recent but brief monograph of the fort from Buciumi N. Gudea refers to this building as to Building no. 3 instead of Building no. 4 used in the former mentioned monograph (Gudea 1997, 48-49, Abb. 8). 55 Chirilä et al. 1972, 92, nr. 5, 8, 10, Taf. C/4, 7, 9 (hairpin); 91, nr. 16, Taf. XCVIII/4 (bead). 56 Chirilä et al. 1972, 31, Abb. 52; Gudea 1997, 59. 57 Chirilä et al. 1972, 92, nr. 2, 7, 9, Taf. C/l, 6, 8; nr.l, Taf. CII/1; Gudea-Bajusz 1991, 99, nr. 124.1, pi. XVII/1. 58 Gudea-Bajusz 1991, 92, nr. 27.8, 28.9, 45.26, pi. IV/8-9; V/26. 59 Chirilä et al. 1972, 61, nr. 1-7, Taf. CXIX/2.
