Arrabona - Múzeumi közlemények 44/1. Ünnepi köte a 65 éves Tomka Péter tiszteletére (Győr, 2006)

Balogh Csilla: Avar kori kettős- és többes temetkezések a Duna-Tisza közén

BALOGH CSILL

A AVAR KORI KETTŐS- ÉS TÖBBES TEMETKEZÉSEK A DUNA-TISZA KÖZÉN DUAL AND MULTIPLE BURIALS IN THE REGION BETWEEN THE DANUBE AND THE TISZA RIVER FROM THE AVAR AGE Presently there are 122 dual and triple burials from 34 sites (Catalogue, Chart 2) in the region between the Danube and the Tisza River (Map 1). Beside the simultaneous burials, the post-burials and the twin graves have been also categorised into this group because in the latter cases the same intention drove the people who performed the burials, namely they wanted to place the deceased close to each other who had been in close relationship in their lives irrespective of the fact that they had not died simultaneously. When analysing the burials every aspect (orientation, grave forms, position of the corpse, ritual elements and grave goods) showed diversified picture, consequently only tendencies could be concluded instead of rules. For the purpose of comparison the data of the similar burials form the Kisalföld (Tomka 2003) and the region of the Körös-Tisza-Maros Rivers (Bende 2004) could be used. Based on the comparison the burials from the region between the Danube and the Tisza River can be characterised as follows: 1. The rate of the dual (triple) burials within the cemeteries is 1-2%, but in exceptional cases this figure is 4,8% and 7,5% (Chart 1). 2. Most of the graves are pit-graves of NW-SE orientation, but there are some graves with bench-, cavity and polestructure as well. 3. The volume of the graves is l-3m

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; the biggest ones are two bench-structured graves. He dimensions of the corps are in direct ratio with the volume of the graves, but the dimensions of the graves and the number of the corpses are not necessarily proportional. 4. In our case the use of a common coffin is exclusive in contrast with the Kisalföld region where the use of separate coffins is more common (Tomka 2003, List l.A). The coffins do not have any hinges or fasteners. 5. The corpses were usually laid on their back in outstretched position. The rate of different positions is negligible. 6. Usually a woman and a child or a baby were placed into a common grave (50%), while the occurrence of the common woman-man graves is 21,5%. About 10 % is the rate of the manchild/baby and child-child burials while the occurrence of man-man graves is quite rare with 3,7% and there is only one woman-woman grave. The regions of Kisalföld (Tomka 2003, 21) and the KörösTisza-Maros Rivers (Bende 2004, 314) show similar rates. 7. The graves can be divided into two groups according to the position of the skeletons to each other: in the first group the position of the corpses reflects the emotional ties of the deceased (manly woman-man and woman-child/baby graves), while in the second group the main aspect was the optimal utilisation of the space. 8. In the majority of the graves the corpses were laid parallel with each other. The oppositional positioning of the corpses is much rarer than in the Kisalföld region (Tomka 2003, List 2). 9. In contrast to the Kisalföld region where the left side seems to be the main place (Tomka 2003, 22), in our case the men or the older deceased were consequently laid to the right side of the grave like in the region of the Körös-Tisza-Maros Rivers (Bende 2004, 314), while based on the grave goods there are only a few instances where the person on the right side seems to be also the man of ranks. 10. The finds of the relevant cemeteries do not reflect any hierarchical relationships. 11. The pottery grave goods are not typical to the dual and triple graves, but in which site they occur they can be found in most of the dual and triple graves. The pottery, which is usually a manually formed pot, typically occurs in adultchild graves and belongs to the adult. 12. Animal bones - manly poultry - placed beside the leg of the deceased as food offerings were found in about half of the graves. The occurrence of eggs is not typical. 13. The finds reflect that dual and triple burials were practiced in each social category except for the wealthiest class. The majority of the graves can be dated from the second half of the Avar Age, in particular from the SpA3 phase. Csilla Balogh DOPPEL- UND MEHRFACHBESTATTUNGEN AUS DER AWARENZEIT IM DONAU-THEIß-ZWISCHENSTROMLAND Meinen jetzigen Kenntnissen zufolge fand man im Donau-Theiß-Zwischenstromland an 34 Fundorten (Karte 1) insgesamt 122 Doppel- und Dreierbestattungen (Katalog, Tabelle 2). Diesem Kreis ordnete ich außer den zur gleichen Zeit erfolgten Bestattungen auch die Nachbestattungen und die Zwillingsgräber hinzu, aus der Überlegung heraus, dass bei den letzteren Fällen die die Bestattung vornehmenden Personen von der gleichen Absicht geleitet wurden, und zwar, diejenigen Toten, die bereits auch zu Lebzeiten in engem Kontakt miteinander waren, möglichst nah beieinander zu bestatten, unabhängig davon, dass ihr Tod nicht zur gleichen Zeit eintrat. Bei der Analyse der Bestattungen 85