Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 33/4. (2013)
Articles
Churchyards in the Transylvanian Basin from the 11th to the first half of the 13th centuries 171 The hairpins were characteristic of the W-European fashion hairstyle; they were another form of the westernisation within the Hungarian Kingdom in the 12th century. 12.4. Pearls (PI. 11, PI. 16, PI. 33, PI. 37) Cases: Alba Iulia-Roman Catholic Cathedral: Grave 73/1973 (1 piece-?), Cluj-Napoca-Mánáftnr: Grave 17 (5 pieces-Au Foil, glass), Grave 123 (1 glass, 5 clay pieces ),158 Däbäca-Cösf/e Area IV: Grave 36 (? pieces-the material they were made of is unknown), Grave 37 (148 pieces-glasspaste, shell, coral), Grave 146 (12 pieces-coral), Grave 234 (90 pieces-glass paste ),159 Däbäca-A. Tamas’ garden: Grave 37’Feldioara: Grave 21 (4 pieces), Jucu: Grave 3 (1 example made of glass), Grave 62 (unknown number), Grave 76 (48 pieces), Grave 88 (unknown number), Moresti: Grave l.A (1 piece). Pearls can be considered trade products, therefore they must have been much more common in trading and political-military centres and at the junctions of trading routes. According to the observations, pearl types of different sizes, shapes and techniques were found in female and child graves whereas strings of beads were only found in female or biologically female child or adolescent graves. This observation was made in connection with the graves from Alba lulia-Roman Catholic Cathedral, Cluj-Napoca- Mänästur, Däbäca-Castle Area IV and Jucu. In Grave 73/1973 Alba Iulia-Koman Catholic Cathedral, in Grave 123 Cluj-Napoca-Mänästur a child, in Grave 36 Dábáca-Casf/e Area IV the skeleton of an infant I or II was documented, and the 148 glass paste beads may indicate that the adult in Grave 37 must have been a female ,160 in Grave 146 an adolescent lay, whereas in Grave 234 the skeleton of a small child was found. The cases in Jucu are even more characteristic: in Grave 3 a child skeleton, in Grave 62 an infans II, in Grave 76 a small girl was registered and in Grave 88 the skeleton of a child was found. According to their biological characteristics, it seems clear that strings of beads were mainly placed in the graves of young and probably female graves. There are no available data on the size, age and sex of the skeleton in Grave 17 Cluj-Mänästur. It is also 158 lambor - Matei 1979, 602, Pl. VII. m. 17. 8; lambor - Matei 1983,135, Pl. VI. m. 123.1-6; Gáli et al. 2010,80-81, PL 16/5. a-c; PL 48/7. a-e. 1591 would like to thank Lummi^a Säsärean for these data. 160 Analogies we know from the Esztergom-Zsidód churchyards. Molnár 2005, 5. kép. important that in many cases these strings of beads were found together with hair rings with S-shaped ends applied on textile ribbons (see Cluj-Napoca-Manasfwr: Grave 123, Däbäca- Castle Area IV, Jucu: Grave 76). Why these strings of beads were placed in these graves and what reasoning or emotional approaches might have been behind them will remain the secret of those bygone days. The presence of these strings of beads, which are considered to contribute to female beauty, in children graves may lead to the following conclusions that 1. the male-female binary opposition might have begun from a very early age in the early Middle Ages 2. the archeological evidence of the parents’ pains 12.5. Finger rings (Fig. 24-25; PI. 5, Pi. 10-12, PL 14-15, PI. 18-19, PI. 32-33, PI. 37, PI. 40, PI. 42, PI. 45, Pl. 47.1.B, PI. 50) The very diversed types of finger rings found in the Transylvanian Basin churchyards were made of silver, gilt silver, bronze or glass. The types of finger rings: la. Simple open strap ring without ornaments: Alba lulia-Roman Catholic Cathedral (1 piece-Br.), Cluj-Mänästur: Grave 13 (1 piece- Ag), Grave 85 (1 piece-Ag), Däbäca-Castle Area IV: stray find (1 piece-Ag), Grave 108 (1 piece- Ag), Jucu: Grave 53 (1 piece-Br.). lbl. Ornamented, open strap ring, with ornamentation incised in lines and punched in small rectangular shapes ordered in rows or in double rows: Dkbaca-Castle Area IV: Grave 114 (1 piece-Br.). Ib2. Ornamented, open strap ring, with ornamentation incised and punched in a serrated shape on its surface, in several lines: Cluj- Mänästur: Grave 41(1 piece-Ag). Ib3. Ornamented open strap ring, with ornamentation incised and punched in a serrated shape on its surface, with a cross at the end: Cluj- Mänästur: Grave 75 (1 piece-Ag). Ib4. Ornamented open strap ring, with triangle-shaped incised and punched ornamentation: Clu)-Mänästur: Grave 141 (1 piece-Ag). lc. A strap ring ornamented with two grooving: Cluj-Mänästur: Grave 24 (1 piece-Ag). ld. Simple, open strap ring with primitive zigzag scratches: Dabaca-Castle Area IV stray find from Trench 3/1969 (1 piece-Ag).
