Agria 37. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2001)

Vaday Andrea–Domboróczki László: Mezőszemere – Kismari-fenék. Késő-császárkori–kora-népvándorláskori temetőrészlet

The grave groups at Mezőszemere provide new chronological and ethnographical data clarifying the relationship between the northern graves dating from the late Sarmatian period. As a result it is no longer possible to treat the northern cemeteries of what was previously referred to as the Tiszadob-Tiszakarád-Tiszavalk-Mezőszemere group as a single entity, even bearing in mind the chaotic and ever-fluctuating political situation at the time. The existence of a one-time earthwork at Mezőszemere, dating from the same period as the cemetery, helped to clarify this particular question. Of the Tiszadob-Tiszakarád-Tiszavalk cemetries, the positioning of those at Tiszakarád, Szihalom-Budaszög, Tiszadob and Tiszavalk, mean they align with the earthworks. In addition their date (end of 4

th century AD - beginning of 5

,h century AD) makes it unlikely that they were the cemeteries belonging to the defenders of the earthworks, despite the fact that weapons were found there. The Szihalom-Pamlényi-tábla and the Mezőszemere-Kismari-fenék are situated to the south of the central, most recent earthwork, the latter being aligned just behind the earthwork. The Roman finds which came to light on the site suggest closer Roman connections (glass vessels, Roman and copies thereof)- The two sites mentioned above and their relationship to the earthwork differentiate them from the sites mentioned right at the beginning, which belong to a period characterised by entirely different historical circumstances. From the finds it is quite clear that what one sees in Mezőszemere is a military cemetery protected by an earthwork for those Sarmatians who were in alliance with the Romans. In the first two rows of the I. grave group they buried the soldiers and their families, in the III. grave group, families from the Sarmatian nobility who were in alliance with the Romans, whilst in the graves of the II. group it wasn't usual to find objects connected with the Roman militia inermis or militia armata. Of the weaponed graves one could perhaps suggest that the different combinations of weapons buried correspond to soldiers of differing ranks. The importance of the coins, which were used either as obuli or as jewellery, is that they provide us with a terminus post quern. The poor state of the coins suggest that they were in circulation for a long time, that the section of earthwork was built after 358AD, and that it was still protecting the Sarmatian soldiers in the 70s and 80s of the 4

th century AD. In the 4

th century AD an arrangement existed between the Romans and the Sarmatians promising reciprocal support, it was something which ensured a period of peace. The Sarmatian territories on the borders of the Roman Empire subsequently acted as a kind of buffer state against attacks coming from the east. The stretch of excavated earthwork could possibly have protected one group of the Sarmatae Liberi who, whilst under the authority of the Sarmatian king Zizais, were answerable to the Roman Military Command and the Emperor himself. This would explain the presence of the Roman objects and the onion-headed fibulas, which although partly elements of military attire and partly symbols of authority in the Roman province, do not belong to the are not one would expect to find in the Sarmatian barbarian lands. The small number of graves in Mezőszemere suggest that the population left the earthwork system once it had lost its strategic importance to the Romans, and that the area remained depopulated up until the Árpád period. 206