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.
Let us examine this phenomenon in case of those cemeteries selected in Figure 3 for which orientation was given in degrees by the excavators. The orientations of the Szakáihát, Povád, Kérpuszta and Zalavár cemeteries approximately correspond to those mentioned above (with the exception of Zalavár). Orientation fluctuates between 224°—332° in case of the Sárbogárd cemetery thus making the difference between the two polar values more than 100 degrees. Moreover, Sárbogárd seems to present a special and —let us say —irregular picture not only because of the 100° distance but also because of the distribution of the sexes. In order to analyze the intrinsic causes of this phenomenon I separately graphed the orientation values of males, females and children and the following conclusions were drawn from the results (Figure 4). No differences can be found in the orientation and frequency of the men, women and children in the cemeteries of Szakáihát, Kérpuszta and Zalavár. On the other hand there are divergencies in the orientation of the dead of different sexes in Sárbogárd and Povád. This is especially observable in Sárbogárd where the orientation of men and women are almost exactly opposite. The mode of men is between 270 and 290° while that of women between 290 and 310°. A similar tendency may be observed in Povád too. It should also be mentioned that in Sárbogárd the frequency of the orientation of children corresponds to that of the men, viz., the fathers, while in Povád to that of the women, the mothers. The divergence in the orientation of sexes should be first sought in ethnic differences. The 100° distance in orientation may be due to that a group of males and females in Sárbogárd—at the beginning of ethnic mingling primarily in the first decades of the cemetery —adjusted the orientation to their dead to the positions of the sun at different times of the day. Within this the 70° changes according to the seasons are applicable to the orientation of both groups. This assumption is also supported by the frequency of the orientation of age groups (Fig. 5). In Figure 5 the orientation according to age groups shows a different distribution for the Sárbogárd cemetery. The majority of the individuals of Infans I and Senilis were identically oriented (between 230° and 270°) in agreement with the location of the spring —autumn position. As it is generally known the greater frequency of deaths of younger and older persons is found in these two periods. B. Types of Graves The vertical-walled graves of Sárbogárd have rectangular openings and are angular on all sides. Great care was not taken to make a perfect shape. The graves of adults are generally 60—70 cm. wide and 200 cm. long. In all instances the bottoms of the pits were horizontal. The shapes and sizes of the graves found in Sárbogárd correspond to the data of cemeteries unearthed up-tonow in Hungary and dated to a similar period. C. Depth of Graves As it was previously mentioned, the cemetery is located on a hill oriented N—NW — S —SW. The prevailing winds of the region are also NW. As a result of Fig. 3. Frequency of orientation in 10-1 lth с cemeteries weather conditions and cultivation we have to consider a certain degree of the erosion of the topsoil. This is concluded from two circumstances. First the two horses buried on the ridge of the cemetery were only 40 cm. below the surface at the time of excavation. Among the infant graves one was at a depth of only 15 cm. Thus we have to consider an erosion of at least 20 cm. The other proof is indirect. The number of children between 0 and 4 years of age is much lower than it should be on the basis of the infant mortality rate of this period. In all likelihood since the children were originally put into more shallow graves the upper stratum containing their graves was destroyed by deep ploughing. From these it follows that the depth of graves can have only a relative value and depths may be interpreted only in comparison to each other. The grave depths measured during the excavation vary between 12 and 125 cm. The most common is the depth between 50 and 75 cm. Only children were buried in shallow graves (15—25 cm), while men, women and children are equally found in the deepest ones (100—125 cm). No difference could be noted between the sexes in regard to the depth of graves. 96
