Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. Az István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 8.-9. 1967-1968 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1968)

Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Éry Kinga, K.: Reconstruction on the tenth Century Population of Sárbogárd on the Basis of Archaeoloogical and Anthropological Data. – A sárbogárdi X. századi közösség rekonstrukciója régészeti és embertani adatok alapján. VIII–IX, 1967–68. p. 93–147. t. XXVI–XLV.

phenomenon in the 10-1 lth century cemeteries of Hungary. It is known that the conquering Magyars symbolized the former saddle horse in graves only by the skull and four leg bones of the horse, i.e. the hide. Burial with complete horse skeletons occurred according to my knowledge in the following sites: grave 42 of the 10th century cemetery of Oroszvár;

25 from an 11th century cemetery of the vicinity of Szeged;

26 grave

43 of cemetery „E" of Kiszombor

27 and as an uncertain data we have to mention Gerendás where nearby the graves from the period of conquest separate horse grave was unearthed but there is still no adequate date to prove that the two are connected. (The datum from the vicinity of Szeged is likely to be identical with that of Kiszombor.)

28 At most these data prove that the complete body of a horse might have been buried in very rare instances, but the practice wasn't general. Moreover in the period under discussion the putting of complete horses (not taking into consideration the uncertain data from Gerendás) and even putting ritual objects along with the buried horse into a separate grave are singular phenomena. The burial of complete horses was as common in the Avar period, previous to the period of conquest, as it was rare in the 10th-11th century.

29 In the Avar-period cemeteries the horse was either put into the same grave as the horseman or the horseman and his animal received separate nearby graves. In the horse graves from the Avar period we frequently find grave goods which are either part of the harness or weapons. The clay vessel and flints discovered in horse grave С in Sárbogárd is undeniably a ritual object and for this reason it must be judged according to different standards than the quoted cases of the Avar period. I cannot decide whether a buried man belonged to each of the two horse graves in Sárbogárd. The horses were likely killed and buried not because their owners dies but as sacrifices and they were buried in the cemetery for some extraordinary event. The two horses buried in grave 63 belong to an entirely different category of horse burials. This burial will be separately treated by А. К r a 1 о v á n s z к у on account of the importance of the objects found there. Here I shall only briefly describe the grave. In grave 63 two complete horses were buried together with the body of a man of 20-21 years of age. The form of the pit was undiscernible since it was disturbed by recent digging. First the two horse bodies were placed into the grave at a depth of 110 cm. They were close to each other, oriented S

—N with their heads towards the south. A wooden harness covered with lead plate was around the neck of both horses. The bronze accessories of the harness of one horse also survived as well as the bit in its mouth. Above the two horse bodies there lay diagonally at a depth of 80 cm. the body of the young man with his extremities extended in a direction of 298°. No objects of personal use or other grave goods belonging to him could be found. (Figure 19) (Plate XL, 3—4) Thus the horses buried in the grave were draught horses 26 cf. G. FEHÉR-К. К. ÉRY-A. KRALO VÁNSZKY : Rég. Tan 2 (1962). 26 F. MÓRA: Etn. 43 (1932) 54-68. 27 1. DIENES: FA 10 (1958) 125-142. 28 1. DIENES: Orosháza története (History of Orosháza) (Orosháza, 1965) 1965) I. 136-174. 29 A. KISS: JPMÉ (1962) 153-162. and they were likely harnessed together and buried in such a way. The wooden harness found around the horses' necks is a completely unique find not only for the Carpathian Basin but also for Central or Eastern Europe. E. „Totem — pole" A larger square pit was found in the central section of the cemetery at the eastern edge. Its depth was 185 cm, width 170 cm, length 155 cm. Our attention was caught by the fact that the four corners of the very carefully dug pit were oriented towards the points of the compass. The walls of the pit were vertical and even the corners were clearly distinguishable. The orientation of the four corners of the pit towards the points of the compass could not have been accidental. Its possible that the points of the compass had some role, probably prevention against damage. This possibility is supported by the fact that although the area of the pit is quite large, the giant wooden pole was not placed in its centre but in its southern corner. Today only the place of the pole can be discerned. The diameter of the hole for the pole was 22 cm. The bottom of the pole reached down 32 cm deeper than the bottom of the pit. The pole was supported by larger stones too, but such stones were also unearthed in other parts of the pit at different depths. Its possible that even the stones had some role, maybe they wanted to „weigh-down" the evil spirits with them. In all instances if the purpose of the pit was only to put a wooden pole deep in the ground it was unnecessary to remove such a great amount of earth so carefully. Thus it is possible that some ceremony was performed in it. Very soon after the removal of the earth, however, it was replaced for no stratification could be observed in the bottom of the pit. (Plate XXXIX, 4) The main role was certainly assigned to the pole in the cultic purposes of the pit. We cannot tell how tall the pole was but on the basis of the length and diameter of the buried portion we can assume that it was so high that it could be seen from some distance away. We can only surmise what its purpose could have been. Very likely such an object was fastened to the pole (such as a horse skull

30

) which protected the cemetery keeping away evil spirits. It is also possible that on the pole was hung the sign of the clan or tribe from which the community became separated. It is not accidental that the grave of male 33 was oriented in such a way that the dead faced the pole; furthermore it deserves mention that the graves of the two sacrificial horses were nearby this „totem pole". In connection with the „totem pole" of the cemetery of Sárbogárd I. D i e n e s pointed out that a few of our 10th century cemeteries were unearthed in places called „idol hill" („bálványdomb").

31 Its possible that one type of the pole from Sárbogárd was up in the 10th century cemeteries which became preserved as „totem poles" only in the name of the locality. According to I. D i e n e s even the name „White horse trail" („Fehérló"-dűlő) at one of our 10th century sites also must be related in general to the sacrificial site in the cemeteries or to the sacrificial horses buried in them

32

. so I. MÉRI: Arch. Ért. 91 (1964) 111-115. 31 Reader's opinion. 32 I. DIENES: FA 16 (1964) 79-112. 109