Horváth László: A magyarszerdahelyi kelta és római temető - Zalai Gyűjtemény 14. (Zalaegerszeg, 1979)

Irodalomjegyzék

ginally more graves could have been in the centre of the ground, in which also weapons were buried. The grave-goods of the graves containing also arms may be rather date to the beginning of the period, thus we may suppose that the community using the grave-yard had appeared, when settling down in the territory, with more warriors, and had gradually impoverished in the course of time. When valuating the funeral habits we could distinguish four groups of graves which territorially separated themselves from each other. (Picture No. 15) After deciding upon the date of the find-material we could state, that this meant only a territorial separation. Within a group of graves we may find graves of earlier and later date. From this we may draw the conclusion, that the groups of graves were burial places of smaller units within the community (clan?), those of small families. The members of the family could preserve through generations the way of cremation and burial used by the family (e. g. they put also the pots and dishes upon the pyre). Regular archeological work is carried on since four years in the collecting territory of the museum of Nagykanizsa. Up to 1975 we knew in the southern part of county Zala about 20 Celtic findspots, this number increased in four years to 52 (Annex A, Picture No. 18). The Celtic findspots of SouthZala are situated, nearly without exception, along brooks and inundation regions amidst the hills extending in the north-south direction. The distribution of the findspots in the territory does not only indicate the decisive role of the geographical surroundings, but also the regions in which more intensive research had been carried on. If we compare the Celtic and the Roman findspots (Annex B, Picture No. 19), we may emphasize still more the decisive role of the geographical environment. The Roman findspots were found nearly at the very same places as those of the late Iron Age. The forsaking of the Celtic cemetery we may link eventually to the migration of the Kimbers which took place in the last third of the 2nd century. From among the more intensive Roman research work of the recent years, the most important results were offered by the unearthing of Salla municipium (Zalalövő). Beyond offering an image about the inner structure of a settlement raised to the rank of a „municipium", this urnearthing offers chronoligical- cultural-historical and economic-historical bases for the Roman period research work in Southwest Transdanubia. Up to recent years the opinion prevailed that in the strongly broken up hill and forest region of county Zala, Roman period import-goods may be found only along the highly important Amber-Road and that this road of commercial and military importance had not any important embranchments, as import goods were entirely missing from the inner territories. This observation is correct, but characteristic only for that part of the region which is more secluded even today. Beside the Amber-Road the valley of the river Zala itself could have had a rather important role. On basis of the spreading of early import-goods attention was drawn to that diagonal road which, passing at the southern shore of Lake Balaton, linked Poetovio with Aquincum. This diagonal road was an embranchment of the Amber Road, starting possibly at Halicanum.