Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 34-35. (2014-2015)
Articles
Habitatul est-transilvänean in secolele XII-XllI: evolutiile microzonei Sighisoara...95 List of plates Plate 1. Sighisoara-Dea/n/ Viilor (topographical positions of archaeological sites) Plate 2. Sighisoara-Dealul Viilor archaeological site ‘Asezare’ Plate 3. Sighisoara-Dealul Viilor archaeological site ‘Cemetery Plate 4. Sighisoara-Dea/u/ Viilor Asezare complex 7b: 1-2; complex 7c: 1; complex 43a: 1; Plate 5. Sighisoara-Dea/u/ Viilor Asezare’ complex 27: 1-5; complex 67: 1-2. Plate 6. Sighisoara-Dea/u/ Viilor Asezare’ complex 66: 1-11. Plate 7. Sighisoara-Dealul Viilor Asezare’ complex 78: 1-7. Plate 8. Sighisoara-Dealul Viilor Asezare’ complex 104=119: 1-5. ’ Plate 9. Sighisoara-ß/ser/ca din Deal, Albesti-Ceiafe (valley of Sapartoc) Abstract The Dealul Viilor (Vine Hill) site called is situated around the eastern edge of Sighisoara (ger: Schäßburg; hung.: Segesvár), Mures County, on the first and second terrace on the right bank of Tárnává Mare. Systematic researches at the location called Asezare’ (Settlement) led to the unveiling of over 120 archaeological complexes (homes, ceramic workshops waste pits, etc.) from the 3rd - 8th and 12lh.centuries and also to the discovery of important archaeological artifacts (412 complexes) belonging to the Bronze Age (the Wietenberg culture, the Noua culture) then to the post-Romane age and early medieval era. Post-Romane assemblies which largely destroyed prehistoric complexes are represented by several cemeteries (from the end of 3rd and the begining of the 4th century, and from the fourth and sixth centuries) of complex settlements (ceramic kiln from fourth century; living home from the 8th century) while early medieval era is illustrated by a large necropolis of the 12th century and also the beginning of the next century. 94 graves were investigated, resulting in a total of 106 skeletons from them, which we linked to the medieval necropolis (12th. century) based on aspects of their topographic position, and based on the inventory. There were a total number of 101 fully recovered, undamaged skeletons, while other 5 graves were destroyed (graves no: 36, 72, 77, 95, 112). Also 4 graves could not be investigated due to objective reasons (graves no: 140, 159, 172, 173) and one pit contained no skeleton (157). Altogether we can speak about at least 99 graves (including the pit without bones), which probably would have resulted in a total number of at least 110 skeletons (plus the pit without bones). For objective reasons only the north and south areas of the cemetery could be investigated, of which characteristics indicate the category which in archaeological literature we call churchyard (‘Friedhof’ or ‘Kirchhof’ in German, ‘cimitire din jurul bisericii’ in Romanian, ‘templom körüli temetők’ in Hungarian, etc.). Taking in consideration the given characteristics of the churchyards, which show exactly the same characteristics, as the cemetery at Dealul Viilor (Vine Hill) Sighisoara, through several successive levels of burial sites, it is more than likely there can be found a church, but because of the road it could not be investigated. The archaeological inventory resulted from the researched pit houses and ovens consist primarily in pieces of pottery, furthermore other categories of objects, such as spurs and possibly a blade tip of a sword as well as an object which is more likely to be the iron structure of a balance, etc. The topographic position of the settlement/settlements and the necropolis could possibly explain the aspects of the status and role of this community near to Tárnává Mare. Even tough if the narrative sources of those times does not give us conclusive data, the settlement could have played the role - with all the required reserves - of salt transport checkpoint towards the west. An argument in support of this hypothesis can be provided by the treasure from Sánpaul-Bélabánvára with coins from Ladislaus I, Coloman Cärturarul and Béla II. The lack of chemical analyzes of the bones deprives us of essential data on the lifestyle and the food composition of the community in Sighisoara- Dea/u/ Viilor, although it is considered that until the fourteenth century the farming was the dominant economic activity. If we take a closer look at the settlement and the necropolis at Dealul Viilor and we analyze more carefully it’s environment, taking in consideration the spaciousness of the place and it’s proximity to water we can conclude that community of Dealul Viilor might have raised a lot of large animals, which was obviously determined essentially by climate evolution. On the basis of all these data recovered from the necropolis and the settlement(s), namely pottery, weapons, harness elements, traces on the skeletons inside tombs 45 and 76, and the skeletons without skulls in tombs 94 and 151, the topography of the place and the area surrounding the site, one can presume the existence of a social polyfunctionality in the settlement, as well as the social-economical variety of the community in Dealul Viilor, which was a settlement that the inhabitants abandoned intentionally towards the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth century. Contemporary with the necropolis and settlement from Dealul Viilor there should have been in the microzone a fortification of land and wood, a royal fortress which was controlling the gorge and the roads that intersected here. We have 7 archaeological sites in the microzone of Sighisoara, which can we date in the 12-13th centuries. The image of the written sources stresses the existence of a royal fortification (castrum Sex) during the twelfth century in Sighisoara and this presumes the existence in the area of a habitat, dense from a medieval perspective: royal properties, fortification districts, but also communities of servants who took care of the royal properties or of the lay private properties, in other words the existence of much more complex social and economic realities, of a stratified society, according to the medieval sense of the term.
