Szilasi Ágota, H. (szerk.): Annales Musei Agriensis. Agria LII. (Eger, 2019)
Tóth Zoltán: Honfoglalás kori és templom körüli temető Gyöngyöspüspökin
Zoltán Tóth CONQUEST PERIOD AND CHURCHYARD CEMETERY IN GYÖNGYÖSPÜSPÖKI One of the districts in Gyöngyös, which used to be a separate settlement called Gyöngyöspüspöki, was previously known from written sources and from the surface observations of László Fodor. When conducting archaeological observation in December 2013, inhumation burial sites were discovered along the southern section of the perimeter wall of the Saint John the Evangelist Church in Gyöngyös during the excavation of an underground water pipe. Between 3 and 6 December 2013, experts of the Dobó Castle Museum, led by Zoltán Tóth, found graves that were part of a previously unknown cemetery Construction works were put on hold during the winter, but continued in the spring of 2014, when archeologists were able to document the grave of a child between 25 and 26 March 2014. In 2017, within the framework of a planned excavation, two research trenches were marked out by the experts of the Castle Museum, led by Zoltán Tóth. Trench no. 1 was dug on the outer SW side of the church’s perimeter wall. Trench no. 2 was created inside the wall, east of the chancel. 23 graves were discovered in the outer trench and two Early Modern burials were documented on the eastern side of the chancel. We observed signs of trepanation on the skull of a male, found in the row-grave cemetery. It is difficult to establish the chronology of the cemetery, because, as it is typical of this period, there were very few finds next to the diseased: One S-shaped lock ring, 8 beads (from the same necklace) and a fewÁrpádian Age potteries with straight and wavy linear ornaments, scattered in the grave fills. Based on the archaeological investigations of recent years it can be concluded that in 2013 we found the first burial site of a 10-11th century community in Gyöngyöspüspöki. A 1271 transcript of a 1261 deed states that this area was granted to the Eger bishopric by Ladislaus I. Based on this, there must have been a settlement here in the second half of the 11th century. In addition, we also have archaeological data, verifying that people lived here in the first half of the 11th century and even in the 10th century. Having found the graves of members of this community means that the settlement itself must have been next to the cemetery, because churches were situated in the centre of medieval settlements. In summary we can state that the trenches of the planned excavation contained a lot of graves, which, similarly to the findings of the archaeological observation, can be associated with the medieval churchyard cemetery and the previous 10-11th century Conquest Period cemetery. 342
