Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 33/4. (2013)
Articles
140 E. Gáll Such cemeteries are unknown in the Transylvanian Basin, the 11th century cemeteries had no ‘pagan’ phase (Alba Iulia/Gyulafehérvár-Brandn§ei street, Alba Iulia/Gyulafehérvár- Vänätorilor/ Vadászok street, Alba Iulia/Gyulafehérvár- Päcli^a/Poklisa, Hunedoara/Vajdahunyad, Cluj-Napoca-Mänä§tur/Kolozsmonostor-the bust of George Rákóczi II, Moldovene§ti ).19 In these cases it can be supposed that one can talk about a Christianised population, as these cemeteries were found on the territory of the politicalreligious centres known from the written sources, where logically worshippers of the ancient deity were not tolerated. However, some customs clearly lingered on: in Grave 2 in Hunedoara and in one grave in Alba Iulia- Vänätorilor street arrow heads were found, and an arrow head in a destroyed grave in Moldovenesti is also a faint sign that this tradition was carried on. In these graves the horse-weapon burials, characteristic for the 10th century, are missing, along with such pagan features as food furnishing intended for the other world (the pottery and animal bones found in the graves indicate this) or in the case of some ethnic groups the inconsistent orientation of the graves. In these burials the coins of the first Hungarian kings are attested as oboli, which were also found in some 10th century graves, although in smaller quantity.20 It can be stated that these people began to be converted to Christianity, they may be considered the first generation of official Christians. The considerable amount of jewellery among the finds and some everyday tools (knives, strike-a-lights) may indicate the fact that medieval Christian Puritanism was not a characteristic feature of these people. Therefore we think that these cemeteries can be called proto-Christian as their topographical location and the oboli found in the graves clearly indicate the presence of Christianity.21 Analysing these cemeteries, another question of social interest arises: what was the status of this population? The classes of nobiles, miles and servus are well-known from the laws of Stephen I (1001-1038),22 but it would be impossible or not scientific to connect the population of these cemeteries to any of the social classes known from the written sources.23 19 Gáli 2013c, Vol 1: 293, 507-536. 20 Gáli 2004-2005, 369-373. 21 Gáli 2010, 268-270. 22 ÁKÍF 1999, 52. 23 Gáli 2010, 3-43. In the 11th century, the burials with weapons and horse slowly disappear, and the social differentiations cannot or very rarely can be identified by archaeological methods. In this, however, the written sources of the institution system of the medieval realm can help. From this point on, archaeology can only play an insignificant role in the reconstruction of social stratification. We can divide the cemeteries into two groups in a very simple way: 1. Cemeteries (without church) of the castle folk (‘proto-Christian’ or the cemeteries of the transitional period ).24 During the establishment of the Christian realm’s system, in the first decades of the 11th century, Stephen I built a great number of castles.25 In the vicinity or even in the inside precinct of these, a number of cemeteries were discovered of the castle warriors or the people who lived inside the castles, which is the best indicator of the construction period of these strongholds. Such cemeteries of the castle folk were discovered in: Alba Iulia-Stap'a de Salvare/Mentőállomás, Alba Iulia- Vänätorilor Street, Cluj-Napoca-Aiänäffnr-tfie bust of George Rákóczi II (?), Hunedoara, Moldovenesti-Jósika Gábor s garden.26 2. Cemeteries (without church) of rural character: Alba hűia-Brándufei Cemetery 2, Alba Iulia-Paclisa, Deva, No§lac.27 As we have mentioned above, a significant number of these cemeteries were used already in the 10th century but the question remains if they were used by the same population or not. For example, in the case of the second cemetery in Brandu$ei Street it is very likely that a new population arrived and established a new cemetery next to the old one. This fact is attested, as we have explained it previously, also by the elements of the material culture besides the burial traditions (e.g. different types of knives, S-ended hair rings, square sectioned rings, bracelets and necklaces etc.). At the same time, we wish to draw attention to the possibility of a much larger list of possible cemeteries since we did not take into consideration the stray finds of unexplored cemeteries. This type of cemetery can be called a proto-Christian 24 We could not discuss in our analysis some cemeteries of the castle folk, since they were used until the thirteenth, in some cases until the fifteenth century. The re-evaluation of the cemetery from C\u]-Mänäpur was made by us: Gáli - Gergely 2009, 97-98, Pl. 43-44. 25 Until today one of the best and most conclusive about fortress is the work of István Bóna. Bóna 1995; Bóna 1998. 26 Gáli 2013, Vol. I: 842, 299. kép, 922. 27 Gáli 2013, Vol. 1: 842, 299. kép, 922.
