Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
Medieval Finds from Cotorman 301 Therefore the present paper wishes to be a first item of a longer (?) series aiming to publish the intermediary results and new archaeological material even if further researches may change the actual opinions. Cotorman is a small village, part of Ciucsängeorgiu in a side valley of Fiság creek. The settlement appears in the written records from the 16th century, and according to these the village belonged ecclesiastically to Ciucsängeorgiu, but it was an independent settlement (SzO, II, 221, 1567: kotorman-, II, 262, 1569: kothormanij; II, 298, 1570: kotorman). The village is missing from the archaeological databases; the single important site/monument was thought to be a 17th century chapel from the cemetery (Bárth 2007, 296-297). The chapel is dedicated to Sarlós Boldogasszony and an attentive inspection can easily define that it is a rebuild construction which was originally shorter and lower, and surely without tower on the western side. The simple polygonal plan without buttresses as well as the dimensions - its original length was about 7m- rates it within the early type of chapels (Botár 2011). The presumed earlier dating is supported also by yet unused records which relate about freshly bought bells in 1614 (Veszely 1860, 145). This is a sure proof for the existence of the chapel by the end of the 16th century, but we suspect even a much earlier date of building, probably in the 14th century. The surrounding cemetery was probably formed in the 18th century. Beside the supposed earlier phase of the chapel there is another aspect which argues for a much earlier formation of the village than the period of the first appearance in the records, namely the place name. There are some intentions to explain the place name from the geographical characteristics of the village hidden in a small, closed’ valley (Hu: kotor, kotorék), others thought of place name transfer from western Hungary (Benkő 1990, 117), but more probably it derives from a personal name used in the Árpádian period: Kotorman (Fehértói 2004, 451),1 therefore this archaic name, formed without any affix suggests also a formation in the Árpádian-period (Botár 2008). This ‘Kotorman’ could have been the founder, the possessor or just a remarkable person of the village. Returning to the archaeological information regarding the settlement, the aim of our field survey was the on-site ‘material’ control of this presumption. During the field works we collected archaeological finds from several gardens inside the village, including ceramics from the Árpádian period, so the hypothesis about the origins of the village was validated. Beside the ceramics, regularly found on archaeological sites, during the field work a local inhabitant, Mr. G. Kasza delivered a bronze cross (Fig. 2), which he found in his garden (no. 496) during ploughing. The two-piece cross made of bronze is absolutely intact, it is 7.8 cm high (9.4 cm with the lower locking part and 10.7 cm with suspensor), 6.8 cm width, and 1-1.4 cm thick. In the medallions of the round ended stems there are figures of apostles. The edges of the stems are decorated with rope, on the face there is the crucified Christ and on the back side Madonna with the child. On both sides blurry Cyrillic characters can be seen. The piece belongs to the series of reliquary crosses produced in the 11—12th century in Kiev (Korzukhina-Peskova 2003, 70, II. 1.1/73 type;1 2 Lovag 1999, 133/21-22). They were wide spread trade wares in the Carpathian Basin, including Transylvania, and the surroundings without any ethnical or confessional character.3 The artefact has small deviations which are missing on the analogies, therefore it is very 1 The name: Katurman, or Kotorman appears in records from 1249/1291. 2 We would like to thank Maxim Mordovin for his help. 3 Different opinion were asserted by Spinei -Coroliuc 1976; Spinei 1992.
