Budapest Régiségei 14. (1945)

ÉRTESÍTŐ - Nagy Tibor: Avarkori temető és honfoglaláskori sírok Rákosról : előzetes jelentés 491-507

mention the votive bronze group of the Macedonian King Krateros in Delphi, the work of L,eochares and Lysippos — can be disregarded in this case, as the model of the lion of the Rákos belt-mounts does not belong to this circle. The style of the representation and some small characteristics, like the double tail-end, point to the works of the Iranian-Sassanid art, where among others, the type of the lion tossing its head back, was also popular. The other decorative element of the mounts found in grave 28, the floral ornament consisting of three leaves placed in couples (on the »small strap«-ends single) one above the other, on the back parts of the strapends, also point to the Sassanide art. The tendrils drawn irregularly one above the other still display in their arrangement and in their clear lines the radiating power of the greater cultural centre. This delicate design could come here through the mediation of folk-elements which were driven from the Pontus district to Hungary. The floral ornament appears in the material of some cemeteries in County Mosón (Csúny, Nemesvölgy, Sövényháza) but these later pieces display a much weaker quality. To the two-sided representation of our »greatstrap« end, the »great-strap« end of grave 545 in the Győr grave-field is the best example. (Arch. Ért. 25. 1905. p. 28.) On the front side, the two-tailed lion looking back figures twice, while on the back, the tendrils ending in three leaves appear in couples one above the other, three times, Still, we miss here the delicate, vigorous drawing as seen on the Rákos specimen, the stem is repeatedly broken angularly, and the wide, cornered leaves spread flat over the surface. The big strap end of Győr, no doubt, belongs to a later period than the Rákos one, but as to its form, it is attached to the metallurgy of the people of the Rákos cemetery. The find-material of Höflein (N. Pettich, Die Metallkunst d. landnehmenden Ungarn. Pl. VI. fig. 8-—17.) is also closely related to the belt equipment found in the Rákos grave. The graves No. 26 and 34 of our cemetery also contained a rich grave-furniture. In the former, 8 gilt belt mounts with pendants, 1 heart-shaped belt ornament and 1 bronze buckle came to light. All of them were cast work, while the buckle and knifeholder also discovered here were cut out of thin hammered bronz plate. In this grave there were further two thin smooth bronze ear-rings and the fragment of an iron knife. Grave No. 34 contained 3 belt ornaments with griffins, 2 »smallstrap« ends and 2 bronze ear-rings. Our cemetery was so rich, that even the solid gold moulds were represented in it. The ear-ring found in grave No. 12 is shown in our front-plate. The other, identical specimen was discovered in grave No. 19 together with a small breast clasp, (s. our closing-plate.) The latter is lamellar work with globulets soldered to the edges. In the middle, the coloured glass paste inlay imitating a gem is missing. Thin pressed gold plates occured in several graves. (No. 9, 13, 23.) The pressed bronze small strap ends of grave No. 32 (PI. 2. fig. 15—17) are connected with these. The floral ornament with widening leaves on the front shows some traces of gilding. A bronze plate hammered thin was used for its back fastened at the top and below with one small river. (PI. 2. fig. 17.) The whole find material of the cemetery is characteristic of the late Avar period, e. g. the unadorned gold plates thin as paper. The cast belt-equipments with lions and griffins are closely related to the great Avar cemeteries of Győr and Western Hungary (Csúny, Mosonszentjános) belonging to the VIII*

11 century. All these peculiarityes indicate, that the Rákos cemetery had been used in the VIII

th century. It is worth mentioning that the pure gold adornments were all discovered in the western part of the cemetery. In the eastern part of the cemetery, only gilt bronze casts and pressed bronze strap ends figured. This phenomenon is not accidental and may help us to divide chronologically the findmaterial of Rákos, 506