Balogh Csilla – P. Fischl Klára: Felgyő, Ürmös-tanya. A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Monumenta Archeologica 1. (Szeged, 2010)

The Avar Cemetery at Felgyő, Ürmős-Tanya

270 BALOGH Csilla ferings. At Felgyő, eggs were generally placed by the pelvis and the hand, or by the legs. Eggs appear to have had a dual meaning in the period's burials: most were simple food offerings. The examination of the eggshells of the Avar period indicated that unhatched whole eggs, hatched half and three-quarter eggs and broken eggshells were equally deposited in the burials (JAKAB 1978; VÖRÖS 1995), suggesting that eggs should not automatically be interpreted as symbols of fertility. However, eggs covered with painted and incised patterns no doubt had some symbolic meaning. COSTUME ACCESSORIES AND JEWELLERY Earrings Altogether 71 graves yielded earrings, the overwhelming majority of which came to light in female burials; 16 male and 10 child burials too contained earrings. Hoop earrings (Fig. 5. la-d). Plain hoop earrings were the by far most popular type (Fig. 5. la, Id), recovered from 34 burials. About one-half of these burials contained a single hoop earring only, two burials (Graves 96 and 205) yielded three pieces, while a pair of hoop earrings was found in the other burials. All were made from bronze, and were usually round with a round section. The single pair of oval hoop earrings with rhomboidal section was recovered from Grave 54. which also contained a round sectioned ring, a pair of hoop earrings with small rings clamped on the hoop and a pair of earrings with oval hoop and bead pendant. The women interred in Graves 15, 54 and 196 wore hoop earrings of the type with rings clamped on the hoop (Fig. 5. lb-c): the former two graves yielded one piece each, the latter a pair. Earrings with large spherical pendant (Fig. 5. 2a-f). Earrings with large spherical pendant with a diameter over 1.1 cm were recovered from eight graves, all female burials (Graves 1, 92, 97, 104, 120, 159 and 230), except for Grave 197, a male burial. These earrings were worn in pairs; only Grave 1 yielded a single piece. The earrings were made from silver or bronze, in roughly the same proportion. The hoops were open on one side, except for the ones from Grave 197, whose hoop was open on top. Similar earrings with large spherical pendant have been brought to light in the princely burials of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve (Bócsa, Kunbábony and Petőfiszállás), all of which had a grooved hoop. All three types distinguished by Zlata Cilinská (CILINSKÁ 1975, 65) could be identified among the pieces from Felgyő. The other grave goods would suggest that erarrings crafted from silver were the earliest pieces in the cemetery, although not the earliest representatives of the type. The graves yielding silver earrings of this type could be assigned to the earlier burials in the light of the early eye beads, the pressed shield shaped mounts and Alpine type large strap-end from Grave 197, a male burial. Bronze variants were found together with segmented beads and, in one case, with early melon seed beads (Grave 104). These burials can hardly be dated before the final third of the 7th century. Earrings with small spherical pendant (Fig. 5. 3a-c). Earrings of this type were also recovered from eight graves, four of which were male burials (Graves 83, 137, 174 and 215), three were female burials (Graves 10, 70 and 228) and one was a child burial (Grave 82). They were usually worn in pairs, although in some cases only a single piece was found. With its spherical pendant and three small granules, the silver earring from Grave 10 represents a more finely crafted piece (Fig. 5. 3a). This type appeared more or less simultaneously with the earrings with large spherical pendant: the earliest pieces date from the first decades of the 7th century based on the Phocas coins from Grave 2 of the Kiszombor O cemetery and Grave 3 of the Szentendre burial ground, and the coin's gilt bronze copy found in Grave 30 of the Deszk G cemetery (SOMOGYI 1997, 54-55). Graves 83 and 215 too yielded silver earrings. The bead pendant adjoins the hoop by means of a short, ribbed, cylindrical element (Fig. 5. 3b). The pendant resembles the upper part of the Szentendre type earrings with pyramidal pendant. This earring type is dated to the Early Avar period by a finely crafted gold earring found together with a solidus of Heraclius minted between 616 and 625 recovered from Grave 16 of the Kiszombor-Tanyahalom-dülő cemetery, which was fitted with a suspension loop and worn as a pendant (SOMOGYI 2005, Table 1). The small spherical pendant was soldered to the hoop on the earring from Grave 215. The man interred in this grave wore a belt adorned with Fonlak type silver mounts, which can be securely dated to the initial third of the 7th century by finds of similar mounts recovered from coin dated graves (Keszthely-Fenékpuszta, Grave 8; Linz-Zizlau, Grave 132; the Németszentpéteri burial; BÓNA 1971. 297; MARTIN 1990. 67). Similar earrings made from bronze were found in three burials (Graves 70, 82 and 137). The necklace strung of millet seed beads and prismatic and cylindrical beads with trailed decoration from Grave 70 suggest that this variant post-dates the silver variety. The earrings from Graves 174 and 228 have a plain cylindrical element between the hoop and the spherical pendant and are adorned with granulation on the pendant and at the junction of the different elements. The earring from Grave 228 is the single gold artefact found in the Felgyő cemetery; the other earring from this grave was crafted from silver. Earrings of this type first appeared in the mid-7th century (ORMÁNDY 1995, 161), a date confirmed by the gilt bronze imitation of a solidus of Constantine IV minted between 674 and 681 found in Grave 82 of the Szeged-Fehértó B cemetery (SOMOGYI 1997, 46). They remained fashionable until the end of the century. In addition to the earring, the dating of Grave 228 to the later 7th century is supported also by the woman's necklace of millet seed beads. Earrings with a pyramidal cluster of granulation (Fig. 5. 4). Three burials (Graves 96, 121 and 129) each yielded bronze earrings with a pyramidal cluster of granulation. In Graves 96 and 129, they were found together with plain hoop earrings, one in the former and three in the latter, suggesting that the latter had not been worn in the ear, but had perhaps functioned as braid ornaments (LŐRINCZY 1992, 107). This earring type appears sporadically during the Early Avar period, but was far more widespread during the later Avar period (GARAM 1984, 99-101). The necklace of melon seed and millet seed beads from Grave 96, as well as the cylindrical capsule and strainer spoon shaped pendant found in the burial assign the Felgyő graves with earrings of this type to the final third of the 7th century. Earrings with capped bead pendant (Fig. 5. 5a-c). The most common earring type of the Late Avar period were variants with a bead pendant, whose popularity can be attributed to their being cheap, mass-produced trinkets. Three variants of earrings with capped bead pendant can be distinguished at