Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 33/4. (2013)
Articles
260 Zs. Nyárádi the modern period and no such examples were found dating to the 18th—19th centuries. This arm position could also be found in the same period in other cemeteries in the area, like in the cemeteries in Szentábrahám53 or Székelykeresztúr54, but we may also find other numerous examples beside these. During the modern period the placing of the arms over the pelvis or stretched out alongside the body were both used in mostly equal proportion. Small children were often buried in frog positions, regardless of the period. During the analysis of the positions of the arms we did not find any cases in which they were raised up and the cases in which they were placed bent in a straight angle were also quite rare (GR-161).55 The orientation of the graves varied between 219 and 304 degrees, most of them having an orientation between 240-290°, so a considerable number of graves have been oriented in relation to the church walls. The values, between 304° and 322°, are found in the south-eastern part of the church, while 218-240° are found at the church’s north-eastern part. The weird orientation of some of them: GR-152 (316°), GR-128 (218°), GR-129- 130 (219°) is probably due to the fact that these were oriented according to the first cemetery wall built in the 14th century, and were buried in its direct vicinity. But there are also burials in the mentioned areas with similar weird orientations, which predate the cemetery wall: GR-145 (308°), GR-127 (239°); and also some which belong to later centuries, even up until the 18th century: GR-135 (322°), GR-154 (305°), GR-157 (304°), GR-150 (232°), on the southern side and GR-72 (233°), GR-123 (225°) on the northern side (Plate 4.2). The fact that these differences in the orientations occur only in these areas leads us to conclude that, because here they could already clearly follow the church orientation (because of the breaking sanctuary section), the orientation of some of the graves was done only approximately. The differences in orientation can still be considered minimal in comparison to other medieval churches.56 An even more interesting observation was the fact that the old medieval orientation toward east and west is still strictly kept even after the Reformation. None of the excavated graves was in opposite position, or with a north-south orientation, as it occurred after the Reformation in the 53 Benkő 1992, fig. 34. 54 Benkő 1992, 157 fig. 18. 55 Béres 2005, 300. 56 Ritoók 2005, 176. case of the graves in the cemetery in Telekfalva57 (Romanian: Teleac), or even in Máréfalva and at Szentábrahám58. The fact that the orientation of the earlier graves corresponds with the ones of the burials made in later centuries lets us conclude that the very first Romanesque church, demolished during the end of the 13th century, which can be completely found within the interior part of todays church, had a similar orientation. The burials with coffins appeared in Székely Land during the 14th and 15th centuries. The 28 graves in the cemetery in Székelykeresztúr, which had been dated with the help of a coin minted under Louis I of Hungary, certainly indicated this.59 During the investigation of the ruins of the church in Kányád we managed to indicate their existence in the 15th century60, but their use however, only became widespread during the 16th century. In Bögöz, the earliest burials containing coffins date back to the 16th century. In Bögöz we managed to prove in some cases directly or indirectly, that in earlier periods, the deceased were wrapped in shrouds. The legs of the body in burial GR-13, buried in the 12th— 13th century, had been bent at the knees, which clearly indicate that the body was places in the pit wrapped in a shroud (Plate 2.8). In the case of the child grave GR-45, the grave itself indicated the burial method. The skull found in the grave which had been dug into the yellow clay subsoil, had been placed on a small ledge with a sharp edge, which was 25 cm higher than the first part of the grave, the child was buried in a half sitting position (Plate 2.7). We managed to detect organic material only in one single case above the basin of grave GR-42 we noticed a dark brownish pigmentation that indicated the material itself. In the beginning, coffins were mere crate type objects, without a bottom, which were made with wooden joints. The deceased was placed on a bulrush or a surface made of any other type of organic material, and the wooded structure was lowered on top.61 We noticed a similar mark in the case of grave GR-146 that was dated to the 16th century. It had, on the edge of the pit a 2.5-3 cm wide band of decaying wood which preserved the imprint of the coffin. A closer inspection revealed that it had not been its bottom as there were no planks under the bones. We observed a 57 Nyárádi - Sófalvi 2009, 105 fig. 9. 58 Benkő 2012, 154. 59 Benkő 2012, 155. 60 Derzsi - Sófalvi 2008, 272. 61 Szatmári 2005, 117.
