Dr. T. Tóth szerk.: Paleoanthropological studies (Anthropologia Hungarica 8/1-2. Budapest, 1968)

A n ï H i O P O L O GIA H U N to Á R

IC â TOME VIII. 1968 No 1-2 Section Anthropologique du Musée d'Histoire Naturelle DATA TO,THE ANTHROPOLOGY OP THE AVAR PERIOD POPULATION OP THE TRANSDANUBIA (The anthropology of the. Avar Period cemetery at Kékesd) By S. WENGER There are but e few reports on the anthropology of the Avar Period populations of the Transdanubia despite the fact that' a relatively high number of graves have been excavated. Studies and publications in this respect were made by L. BARTUCZ (1,2,3,4), T. TÓTH (10,11), and J. NEMESKÉRI (7). The working up of the Avar Period cemetery at Előszállás-Ba

jcsihegy (12), as well as the present paper, also aimed at the augmentation of our knowledge concerning the populations of the Transdanubia

. Excavation data The locus of the excavations was the village Kékesd, Com. Baranya. It is situated 18-20 km of Pécs, the country town of the Comitat. Excavations were led in 1936, 1937, and 1938, by the late J. DOMBAI, Director of the Janus Pannonius Museum in Pécs. The results of the archeological findings have not yet been published. On the basis of the data entered in the inventory books and the excavation diaries deposited in the Museum, the cemetery is dated to the VIII-IX centuries A.D. In the course of excavations, 244 graves were exposed, of which graves No. 1-16 had been excavated by systematic research work directed by J. DOMBAI. Material and methods The anthropological material of 39 graves was saved in the course of excavations, namely the skull and skeletal bones of 13 individuals, the skulls of merely 20, and only the skeletal bones of 6 further persons. The material consists of the findings of 1 Inf.II, 1 Juv., and 37 adults. The distribution of the material as to sex and age groups is submitted in Table I, whereas Table II contains the per cent distribution according to sex and age groups of the saved skulls. Owing to the unfortunate fact that merely the well-preserved skulls and skeletal bones had been saved during excavation, and as their number is also rather meagre as related to the graves exposed, no detailed paleodemographio assessment can be given.