The Eighth Tribe, 1976 (3. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1976-08-01 / 8. szám
ARCHAEOLOGISTS STILL DREAM OF FINDING ATTILA’S GOLDEN TOMB Does the resting place of Attila, the leader of the Huns, lie beneath the broad Backa Plain in northeastern Yugoslavia? Legend has it that Attila was buried in this area, in a gold chest which was then sealed inside an iron sarcophagus. This was then laid in a tomb and — legend again — the resting place flooded by diverting the waters of the Tisza River. Later, it is said, the river reverted to its old course. And over the centuries many archaeologists have labored in hopes of a discovery which -— in the event that legend should prove true — would rank with the fabulous find of Tutankhamen’s tomb on the Nile. Yugoslav and Hungarian archaeologists now reexploring the Backa Plain do not totally exclude the possibility of finding Attila’s tomb. What they are more confident about, however, is that their excavations may lead to some less-dramatic find which nonetheless would add to our meager knowledge of the warlike nomad tribes which ravaged much of Europe 15 centuries ago. Huns Unknown to History Relatively little has ever come to light about the Huns. This lack springs partially from the nature of the Hun culture: not writing, they left no written records; nomadic, they established no lasting settlements as did colonizing Romans, Greeks, and others. Experts from the museums of three ancient towns — Senta and Subotica in Yugoslavia and Szeged just across the border in Hungary — together with scientists from the Geomagnetic Institute here, are now probing ancient burial grounds in the Tisa valley which frequently have yielded up fragments of evidence of the Huns’ way of life. The search, called “Attila 74,” is being conducted with modern electronic devices, including a differential proton magnometer, with whose aid the team is examining one of the largest of the “pyramids” which dot the area. These burial mounds are believed to have harbored the remains of unknown tribal chiefs and their treasure. Like most of the tombs in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, these Backa burial mounds were plundered long ago. But recently, according to a Yugoslav News Agency report, the geo-magneticians undertaking the present search received “strange” reactions from deep inside a high-standing mound just outside the village of Martonos, near Senta. The mound, which stands in the midst of cultivated fields, is a mile from the Tisza River. Reactions on their instruments suggested the presence of some large object, possibly iron and apparently much worn by corrosion. The experts estimated the find to be about 10 by 10 feet in its dimensions, and located about 25 feet inside the mound. The search probably will not lead to Attila’s golden chest. But the research members seem modestly sure they are on the track of “something” which will add to the history of the Huns. Attila 74 is the result of earlier discoveries plus a detailed survey carried out by Yugoslav and Hungarian scientists of the many mounds, now definitely established as burial places, which are spread over the whole Backa Plain.
