Budapest Régiségei 24/1. (1976)

ÓBUDA, RÓMAI KORI TÁBOROK, CANABAE ÉS KÖZÉPKORI VÁROS = ÓBUDA, ROMAN CAMPS, CANABAE AND THE MEDIEVAL TOWN = OBUDA, LAGERÂ I KANABE RIMSKOJ EPOHI I SREDNEVEKOVYJ GOROD - Stieber József: Az 1975-ben Aquincumban feltárt római kori hordó xylotomiai vizsgálata 209-214

JÓZSEF STIEBER XYLOTOMIC EXAMINATION OF THE ROMAN CASK UNEARTHED AT AQUINCUM IN 1975 Archaeologist Mária Pető sent the author some pieces of board and wooden hoop of the cask in question. The pieces of board (of staves) are in a good state of preservation, still, the hoops are (presumably due to stresses as early as the time the cask was made) of a rumpled and ragged structure. Microscopic slides were made in three xylotomic planes of both. For scanning electron-microscopic purposes pieces of 3-4 mm. were broken and split off and then steamed with gold.As a result of the microscopic and electron-microscopic examinations it appeared that the staves had been made of fir (Abies alba) and the hoops of hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). It was not for the first time that fir wood planks turned up from Aquincum wooden casks. F. Hollendonner discovered the use of fir for cask production for the first time in 19 32 (Hollendonner, quoted by B, Kuzsinszky, 1932). Subsequently to this, in finds dating back to the Roman period in Hungary Abies turned up on several occasions. In 1955 a Roman road was excavated in Pécs (P. Z. Szabó), the border of which the builders had supported with fagot-wood. By means of xylotomic examination the author demonstrated several years old pieces of Abies twigs in the latter. In 1957 museologist M. Kaba unearthed a wooden coffin at Aquincum (in the area of today' s gas works), in the material of which the author found planks of Abies wood. In 1969 Professor E. Vadász sent the author pieces of Roman-time charcoal from Gorsium (Tác), taken from the boarded floor of the Roman building No. XIV. As a result of anthracotomic examination these similarly proved to be remains of Abies. In 1969 the author received from museologist Mrs. I. Bona some charcoal pieces from Intercisa (Dunaújváros) dating back to the Roman times. They have been found in the area of today' s water tower, in the seventh spit of section* 6/3. Among them the author also demonstrated pieces of charcoal made of Abies. At the same place the wooden filling of a bronze mounting turned up from the 16th pit of section 4-5/6 which was similarly made of the wood of Abies. The evaluation in respect of cultural history is ambiguous. Except the western frontier regions, the fir tree (Abies) are not found in Hungary today. From where and in what manner could then this wood material have come to the mentioned places? If one thinks of importation, one may suppose that it was floated. In that case, at least as regards the Aquincum and Intercisa coffin and planks, it seems obvious that the wood was floated along the Danube from somewhere in the Carpathians or from the Vienna region. To Gorsium it must have arrived already on land. It is rather hard to imagine, however, that in the neighbourhood of Pécs the Romans would have imported the twigs for road constructionor repairs form farther parts. This would mean that at that time (l-3rd century A.D. ) the fir tree still lived spontaneously in the area of the Mecsek Hills. The latter presumption is supported by the results of pollen analysis and other examinations, which point to a more oceanic character of the climate at that time than at present and, hence, to the advance of Abies had to be present. It is not at all impossible that besides the Mecsek Hills the fir tree was to be met with In greater quantities also in the Pilis, Gerecse and Bakony Hills at that time. Still, the Aquincum casks discussed here have not been made on the spot. In that case, however, we must think of a purposeful selection of cask material on the part of the Roman 211