Folia archeologica 53.

István Vida: Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Hungary, Budapest, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, Vol. III. Moesia Inferior, Supplement 1, Nicopolis ad Istrum

EXCAVATIONS OF A „ROYAL" BARROW-GRAVE IN THE SOUTHERN UR.\

I. H7 Fig. 5. Golden torques from grave 3 5. ábra. A 3. sír arany nyakperece The northern wall of the burial chamber was cut by an ancient plunderer's pit. The burials here were completely destroyed. Only small beads, among them golden ones, and remains of a wooden coffin were preserved, chaotically spread around. The south-western quarter of the burial chamber was destroyed in 2005 by the bucket of the excavating machine, that protruded 20-25 cm deep into its bottom. At the northern part of the machine-pit, there were two golden bells remained in situ. The western wall of the pit cut along its spine a skeleton of a teenager. The burial was made directly at the western wall of the burial chamber. At the feet a bead was found. The excavator also destroyed the entrance and the middle part of the dromos. The traces of the excavator bucket could be followed also east of the middle part of the dromos. However, the basic surface of the burial chamber came out to be untouched of the plunderers. Here we succeeded in recording the traces of an interior light covering fallen down: these were thin, long, 8-10 cm wide planks. Some of them lied directly on the floor of the chamber and on the surface of the fire-place. This makes us think that the covering had collapsed when the chamber had been still hollow inside. In the entrance part of the chamber, next to the mouth of the dromos, we found skeletons of three horses, the bones of which lied in an anatomically right position. One of the skeletons was half destroyed by the bucket of the excavator. The skeleton of the middle horse was placed into a wooden coffin. The dead were placed in pairs around the fire-place, along its walls. The orientation of the corpses did not play role. So, skeletons NN 2 and 3 were oriented to the west with their heads, skeleton 4 to the north and skeleton 5 to the south. Burials were made in special coffins with covers. The corners of the coffins were made of thick logs fixed with pairs of bronze mountings that were driven in with large cast bronze nails that had mushroom shaped heads and rectangular crosssection at the spike. One of the skeletons had a golden earring and an iron bracelet decorated witli golden foil, golden and silver wire. Two more coffins were recorded in situ. They were not destroyed by robbers, and were found witli their covers on, but proved to be absolutely empty. In the space between coffins 2, 3, 4 and 5, a sacrificial assemblage was cleaned. In its upper part there was a large wooden vessel covered with silver and golden plates. It was composed of two connecting spherical cups, covered with ornamented sil-