Gyöngyössy Márton (szerk.): Perspectives on the Past. Major Excavations in County Pest (Szentendre, 2008)

A Roman cemetery at Páty

(2700/2500-800 ВС)

The cemetery lay west of the settlement described above, on the hilltop cut by the M1 Motorway. Éva Maróti uncovered some 910 burials dating from various periods (Bronze Age, Celtic, Roman, Migration period, Avar, Conquest period and Árpádian Age graves). The graves of the early Roman period contained inhumation burials, which were gradually succeeded by cremation burials in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The grave goods placed in the burials ranged from stamped bowls and painted jugs to small perfume bottles, oil-lamps and mount decorated chests. The native women fastened their garment at the shoulders with a pair of wing brooches. The early Roman burials were sometimes enclosed within a circular or rectangular ditch. The inscribed steles erected over these graves were later re-used for making stone sarcophagi.

The inhumation rite again gained prominence with the spread of Christianity in the 3rd and 4th centuries. In addition to simple burials, there were also a few more richly furnished brick graves and sarcophagus burials. Food 4 •

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and drink were placed in grey jugs, glazed pitchers, bowls and small cups set by the feet of the deceased. Men wore cloaks fastened at the shoulder with an onion headed brooch and a belt decorated with bronze mounts around their waist. Women were interred with their jewellery (necklaces, earrings, bracelets and finger-rings). Double burials, probably containing the bodies of couples, were especially richly provided.

A multiple ditch system separated the settlement from the cemetery. Most of the graves in the cemetery were Avar burials of the 7th-8th century and burials of the Conquest period and the Árpádian Age from the 10th—12th centuries.

• Katalin Ottományi

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