Novák László Ferenc: Fejfa monográfia - Az Arany János Múzeum közleményei 16. (Nagykőrös, 2005)
III. Angol nyelvű összegezés
Bereg, Ung, Ugocsa, Zemplén, Abaúj conties), the regions of Szilágyság and Kalotaszeg, Maros- Torda, Sóvidék, Erdövidék, the Basin of Háromszék, the region of Ormánság, Somogy, Tolna, Mezúőföld, Kisalföld, Gömör). The names of the wooden grave posts are fejfa\ or ’fejéhez való fa\ or ’'főtől való fa’ (a wooden post set up at the head of the grave), and ’gombfa’, or ’gombosfa’ (wooden grave post with an orb on the top of the column), according to the folk terminology of Carpathian-Europe. It is occasionally called ’epitafa’ (epitaph). All these words refer to the wooden grave markers set up at the head of the grave. Stump- and column-shaped wooden grave posts always belong to this group. The „orb” refers to the ornamentation of the wooden grave post: the top of the column is always decorated with an orb, which symbolize he human shape. The best known among them are the „boat-shaped wooden grave posts” in Szatmárcseke. Simpler variants of these markers dominate the territories East of the river Tisza, north-east Hungary (Zemplén, Abaúj, Borsod, Gömör counties). Beautiful manifestations of anthropomorphism can be found in the region between the Danube and Tisza rivers (in the villages of Tószeg and Tass and in the country towns Kunszentmiklós, Szabadszállás, and Abony), in the region of the Körös and Tisza rivers (in the country towns of Sarkad, Békés, Hódmezővásárhely), and on the plain of nort-western Hungary (in the villages of Perbete, Nagysalló, Komáromszentpéter). Also wooden grave posts with an orb on their top are seen in various regions of Carpathian-Europe, so e..g. in the region between the Danube and Tisza rivers, in the villages of Alsónémedi, Ócsa, Áporka, Majosháza, Monor, Dunavecse, Solt, Úszód, Dunaszentbenedek, Foktő, Tószeg, Tiszavárkony, Vezseny, in the country towns of Nagykőrös, Cegléd, Abony, in the country town of the Szentes near the Tisza river, and Szatmár county (e.g. in the village of Börvely), in the region of Szilágyság (e.g. in the village of Désháza), in Kalotaszeg region (e.g. in the village of Ketesd), inthe villages of Cece and Sárbogárd, Alap in the area of Mezőföld in Transdanubia, in the villages of Szenna and Nagybajom in Somogy county, in the villages Nagypeterd, Nyugotszenterzsébet in Baranya county. The most decoratively carved wooden grave posts were used in the region between the Danube and Tisza rivers, in Kalotaszeg region and the area of Erdővidék. Orbed wooden grave posts are characteristic of the two latter villages i.e. the top of the column is decorated with an orb, the column itself is ornamented with ring-shaped carvings and also with star and tulip motifs which change grave marker into a real tree of life. Both the life motifs (tulip, star) and the orb-motif on the top strenghten the anthropomorfic character. Similer grave markers were used in the villages of Izsák and Fülöpszállás in the region between the Danube and Tisza rivers, further on in Dunbaegyháza, Alberti, Irsa and the country town of Pilis i.e. in villages inhabited by Slowaks. Anthropomorfic wooden grave posts are archaic as shapes refer to ancient traditions. Anthropomorphism is characteristic of region where the nomadic Hungarian tribes turned up thousands of years ago (here human shped stone statues in cultic places and the „kamennaja” dolls can be mentioned though they are not grave markers). Conventional human shaped wooden grave posts at the head of the burial mound are a general and arvhaic phenomenon. Boat-shaped wooden grave posts wich are characteristic of the Superior Tisza region - especially of the village of Szatmárcseke - may orogante from the Ugrian age of the Hungarians (i.e. where thw tradition of funeral by boat is known). The archaic character of orbed grave post can be traced back to the thousands of years old Hungarian culture. Comparative data have shown similarites to Bashkir, Kyrgyz, Kazakh funeral ceremonies at the end of the 19lh century. However, it is a romantic though logic conception, that the funeral cult of the Turks, namely tomstone with turbans, might have influenced the development of wooden grave posts with orbs in the occupied regions e.g. in the country town of Szentes. The term wooden headboard is often used for wooden grave posts. However, it cannot be detected in the language of the people. It is an artifical designation, the product of prospering 179
