Janus Pannonius Múzeum Évkönyve 13 (1968) (Pécs, 1971)

Régészet - Kralovánszky, Alán: The Paleosociographical Reconstruction of the Eleventh Century Population of Kérpuszta. Methodological Study

PALAEOSOCIOGRAPHICAL RECONSTRUCTION 87 5. The division of the number of types of finds according to sex and age. Kérpuszta. Surveying the results on the general quantitative occurrence of the types of finds, we may sum up in the following: 1. Only a small-size variation (0 to 4) may be observed. 2. The majority of the dead (65,6 per cent) was provided with one type of object. 3. The occurrence of several types of finds follows the sequel: women, children, men. 4. There is a connection between age and the growth of the types of objects. Most of the types occur in the age group from 20 to 40 years. 5. No special phenomenon may be observed on the basis of inner chronology or taxonomical status. c) Characteristics of the Three Main Groups of Finds In view of further valuation, we divided the archaeological material into three large groups. These are the following (in parenthesis we give the names of the finds belonging to the respective group, known from Kérpuszta): I. Economic implements and weapons (knife, strike-a-light, brand tongs) II. Jewelry and clothing accessories (simple hair-ring, S-ended hair ring, ring, bead, shank button, rosetta, rattle, buckle). III. Objects connected with rite (coins). The division according to the inner chronology of the cemetery proves that the group of finds III (in our case: coins) cannot be shown in the early phase but it occurs in the later one. This fact is in connection with chronology, the character of money as an object of division and, in the last resort, Christianity. The originally heathen custom (Charon's obolus!) seems to have been adapted to Christian rite with the help of the cross, respresented on the early coins. The data bear out the conclusion that the overwhelming majority of archeological material is in connection with clothing and jewelry (66,6 per cent.) (Our method of calculation was the following: We equated the total of the given type of object with 100 per cent, and establishing a relation between the types of finds of a single group and the total of the types i. e. 100 per cent, we have gained the ratio of occurrence of the given group of finds in percentage.) The archeological material belonging to economy is much less (25 per cent). Only one object has a marked relation with ritual purposes (8,3 per cent). The proportion of the groups of finds is: П _ I _ Ш (Table 16). Since the objects falling into the group I are occurring much rarer than those of group II, we may gather that the Kérpuszta community did not regard the provision of the dead with objects of heathen character as essential or even permitted. The reason is that the deceased person »needs« objects serving an economic purpose or weapons only if the Nether World is imagined as a continuation of the actual life, so that the dead has to fight and work there, »needing« his economic implements and arms consequently. Children have mainly clothing accessories or jewelry (75 per cent), whereas groups I and III are represented equally (12,5 — 12,5 per cent). We find a similar situation as regards women. They were also buried with a majority of objects belonging to group II (77,7 per cent), with an equal representation of objects belonging to groups I and III (11,1 per cent). Men have a different situation. Their graves contain mainly economic implements (50 per cent), whereas groups II and III are represented equally, with one object each (25,0 — 25,0 per cent). Table 17 presents the joint data of sex and age. According to these data the ratio of the entire cemetery, 3:8:1, is found in the age group between 21 and 40 years alone, and only in section II. This ratio becomes disproportionate in the age group 21 to 40 years of section I, since men have only economic implements and women only jewels. A ritual relation can be shown in the case of adults alone. We may sum up the results connected with the groups of finds as follows: 1. The graves of the Kérpuszta community yielded clothing accessories and jewels in an overwhelming majority. Objects of ritual character are even rarer than economic implements. 2. The ratio of occurrence is the same in the early and the late phases of the cemetery. 3. Classifying the ratio of occurrence of the groups of finds according to sex, age, pathological status and taxonomical data, no significant disproportion can be noticed.