Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. Az István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 23. 1984-1985 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1987)
Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Biró Mária, T.: Gorsium bone carvings. p. 25–63.
Fig. 23. Crotalums paníment to lamentations. Their use was forbidden by the Nestorian Synod in 576. The knife handle with the sharp profiled dense leaf motives which was excavated on the north side of building VII, is probably not a carving of the Roman era (Fig. 172). In the further part of my paper I shall be dealing with those buildings and collection of finds which originate entirely from the restoration after the tetrarchia and the finds could have been manufactured only in the fourth century. The carvings of the bone workshop, that carried on manufacture on the settlement in the fourth century, are distinguished by two tricks of workmanship: 1) The small dots which were sunk in by a hot, sharp tool, their general function being a means to fill in space. 2) The engraved squared network covering the entire surface of the articles. on the forum, we hardly find any globular-headed pins in building VII. From the fourteen types of decorative pins of Gorsium, seven belong to the site of this building. Which pin belongs to the early period and which one is the product of the fourth century bone carving workshop is open to conjecture. It is likely that the stick with the astragal motive (Figs. 186, 188) and the ornamental pin which feature both in the early pit material (210/825) and in the house dated to Severus, perhaps the pin with double disc (Fig. 189) with its exact counterpart in the Severus-dated house —belong to the earlier period. The modification of the pine-cone headed pin (Fig. 193) is dated by R u prechtsberger to the 2nd—3rd centuries (1978, Nr. 4—9), while D u 1 a r, in Slovenia, takes it for a 3rd—4th century occurrence (1979, 282). The motive is popular in Pannónia too, a number of speciemens were unearthed at Brigetio and Aquincum (MNM inv. nr. 63.21.17, 63. 21.16, 63.21.15, 141.1888.46 and BTM inv. nr. 52.620, 52.627, 52.682 unpublished). Although, our specimen from Gorsium is far more pleasing and bette proportioned. I was not able to find any analogy in literature to the turban-shaped pin (Fig. 192). Could it be an unfinished article, in a workphase to accomplish the pin decorated with the wavy motife such as was found in the tabernae? On a similarsized pin from the well exactly such deeply carved oblique lines are to be seen (Fig. 330). The bracelet fiagment with the circles with central dot decoration is from the fourth century (Fig. 173), this motive is to be found in the graves 91 and 313. The large, globular headed pin also dates from the fourth century (Fig. 187). The upper part of a bone prism with a square cross section is decorated with a motive made up of five circles with central dot (Fig. 183). This one, however, is not an unfinished carving, but a sort of Castanet, its antique term being crotalum. Similar carvings with alternating circles with central dot motives are published by H. Leclercq under the headword castanet (CABLOR—LECLERCQ 1925, II/2, 2366; PL 11). О s kar Wulff also mentions such a stick among early Christian objects, (1909, 552). In Pannónia at Intercisa the same kind of bone prism with circles with central dot was excavated in the surrounding of the water tower (Dunaújváros VT. 69/3/7.) The crotalum was made of clay or wood or bone and should not have ecceded a fingerlength. Christians used them at burial sévices to lend rhythmic accomStreet (Figs. 214—235) At the junction of the two main roads our find is only from the tetrarchia era. Considering the exhibitional point of view the fourth century layer was not cut through, for the stratigraphie circumstances were equal to those before the palatium and the area sacra. There were no bone objects at all on the site of the Valentinian restoration. From its two relatively far points two similarly decorated sticks were uncovered of unknown use (Figs. 227,229). The application of the holed, indented disc is also uncertain (Fig. 218). Between the incised groover around the edge and the central hole there are tiny punched dots in flowes pattern. A characteristic feature of the late Roman bone workshop. Similar disc had been published of late Roman excavations from other provinces as well (Germania Romana 1927, Pl. 17). There are such ludus latrunculorum figures, where the top of the figure is a similarly carved disc (Steiner 1939, Pl. 20). With Roman spools the top of the bone-made verticulus, which is made up of several parts, may also be such a bone disc (Plate 12.). A slight sign of wear is noticeable on the two opposite petals and at the edge of the disc; by this reason it may be part of the Fig. 24. Bone spindle/fusus with flower-decorated verticulus 45
