A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve 2016., Új folyam 3. (Szeged, 2016)
RÉGÉSZET - Kujáni Yvett: Viseleti elemek és mellékletadási szokások egy 4-5. századi dél-alföldi temetőben Az apátfalvi temető elemzése III.
Yvett Kujáni Costume elements and grave good provision in a 4th-5th-centry cemetery Costume elements and grave good provision in a 4th-5th-centry cemetery in the southern Great Hungarian Plain. The analysis of the cemetery of Apátfalva III. Yvett Kujáni They aim of the article is to present the material of the cemetery excavated at Site 43 along the M43 motorway at Apátfalva-Nagyút-dűlő. Beads along the lower edge of clothes may provide a starting point for the reconstruction of female costume. Jewellery appears in relatively large numbers among the finds. The earrings of the women buried here were usually simple or bipartite rings made of bronze or silver with a hook-and-loop terminal. Their use is attested from the 2nd century, but in this cemetery later types are represented that have been attested in the 5th century as well. Beads were worn by Sarmatian women - with various beads types and various frequency - from theendofthe 1st century until the Hun Period in the Barbaricum (Vaday-Domboróczki 2001,63], Clothes decorated with a large number of beads around the feet, however, are less characteristic in the Late Imperial Period (Kulcsár 1998, 95), for example in the case of the cemetery of Subotica/Szabadka they were missing completely (Szekeres-Szekeres 1996, 20). In contrast, at Apátfalva we observed the relatively large number of beads found around the ankles. In 30% of female burials (certainly in six cases) the presence of this type of decoration can be demonstrated. In most cases the beads on the lower edges of the costume were dark. This was observed in the case of both the glass and the large number of carnelian exemplars as well (Pis. 4-5). This type of bead set became dominant around the end of the 4th century, and is present throughout the Hun-Period Sarmatian material (Vaday 1995-1996,34). Polygonal carnelian beads were in use for a longer period, while darker beads seem to dominate from the end of the 4th century (Istvánovits-Kulcsár 1994, 73). Spindles were a common female tool in the period. In the graves ring or disc whorls and a hooked thread-guide indicate spinning. Beside the undiagnostic specimens, the rings and discs have analogies from the Late Sarmatian and Early Hun Periods. The presence of a bone needle case not only supports the dating, but also indicates eastern relationships. Girls - similarly to adult women - wore bead necklaces, bracelets and earrings. The latter were of the same hook-and-loop type as those of the adult women. The best information on the general costume of men buried at Nagyút-dűlő comes from Grave 165. The deceased wore a bronze fibula on his chest in life, which probably served to fasten his upper clothes. He wore his trousers with a belt with an iron buckle, and wore his knife attached to it on the left side, in a wooden case. A purse or tache could also have been attached to the belt. This purse - or perhaps a pocket - contained a coin. During the burial a vessel was placed at his feet and an "iron spear" to his right arm. Numerous jewels and ornaments have been observed that appeared in both male and female and/or adult female and child graves as well. Fibulae were worn usually at the chest. At Apátfalva, only types with bottom or side hollow-channel catch are attested made of silver, bronze or, frequently, iron. Costume fasteners with high copper content - a characteristic of this cemetery - appear not 84
