Somogyvári Ágnes – V. Székely György szerk.: „In terra quondam Avarorum…” Ünnepi tanulmányok H. Tóth Elvira 80. születésnapjára - Archaeologia Cumanica 2. (Kecskemét, 2009)

Horváth M. Attila: Honfoglalás kori női sír Nyárlőrincről

HORVÁTH M. ATTILA: HONFOGLALÁS KORI N01 SÍR N YÁ R L 0 R I N C R 0 L Attila M. Horváth A female burial from the Age of Hungarian Conquest from Nyárlőrinc Hungarian archaeology has made a great progress since 1834 when after a long drought a burial of a rich warrior was blown out by the wind. It happened in Benepuszta then belonging to Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun County. Finds coming to light in the course of construction works started in the last third of the 19

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h century had a great impact onto the development of Hungarian museums. Beside Hungarian National Museum, provincial intellectuals took part in the research, among them Elek Kada, Mayor of Kecskemét. In the period between the two world wars, Kálmán Szabó reached significant results in the archaeology of the region. During the Second World War, because of the air strikes material of the museum was evacuated to the Koháry farm in Nyárlőrinc, and part of it to the lapidarium of the National Museum. Majority of the objects was demolished. Development of "modern" museum activity started in the early-1960s. In this period Attila Horváth and Elvira H.Tóth began to work in the museum of Kecskemét and Mihály Kőhegyi in the museum of Baja. They were the ones who started the research including the territory of the whole county. Due to their work - among others - finds of the Age of Hungarian Conquest have been coming to light (e.g. Kiskunfélegyháza - Radnóti Miklós utca, Izsák - Balázspuszta). Majority of the finds was discovered during construction and agrarian works. In most of the cases there was no possibility for verifying excavations. That was the situation also in Nyárlőrinc on March 8

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h 1989, when Elvira H.Tóth and Attila Horváth excavated a grave from the Age of Hungarian Conquest, that came to light in the course of planting an apricot garden, during digging the main irrigation ditch (figs 2-4). Finds (figs. 5-10.) 27 silvered bronze harness plates, 2 harness belt terminals, a pair of stirrups, 1-1 bits with cheekpieces, a girth-buckle, an earring decorated with ball chain, 2 silver and 1 bronze barrel shaped beads, 1 fragmented bronze bead, 7 silvered bronze spangles, 2 miHefiori beads, 40 glass beads of different shape and colour, fragment of a small lead bead, 2-2 pairs of fragmented silver straps on the arms and ankles, an iron awl. Find of the female burial with horse from Nyárlőrinc widened the controversial problematics of single graves dated to the Age of Hungarian Conquest. Despite the statement of the finders according to which no further finds came to light in the course of digging pits for the trees, the question still remains open. Except for some cases, the find material of burials containing horses with rosette shaped harness decorations is very unified all around the country. Horse harness includes stirrups, girth-buckles and saddles only decorated parts of which are usually found. Almost in all of the cases bits with cheekpieces belonged to the harness. Beside these, earrings with ball chains, bracelets or dress straps, and in some cases boots decorated with metal plates, braid ornaments, rings, beads, amulets and coins are the most frequent grave-goods. Series of metal decorations in the Nyárlőrinc find include 24 pieces. They were decorated with three leaf patterns and the frame was emphasised with six pointed circles. Two pieces were made in different casting moulds, and one piece is a variant of the previous one. There are traces of wear referring to the long use on the metal decorations. The same is the case with bronze spangles and with the Byzantine coin minted during the reign of Constantine VII and Zoe (913-919) The bored coin must have been used as amulet. Taking into consideration the weariness and the terminus ante quem, we can suggest that the Nyárlőrinc finds could not be buried earlier than the 950s. 113