A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 43. (Nyíregyháza, 2001)

Régészet - Gábor Lőrinczy: Avarian grave finds from Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County

Lőrinczy Gábor Avarian grave finds from Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Dezső Csallány was the first to publish all of the finds from Szabolcs-Szatmár County from the 6th-9th century. These were the results of the almost century long research works. (QALLÁNY 1960a.). In his study written more than forty years ago he succeeded in proving that the northern part of the territory east of River Tisza was not uninhabited in the Avarian Age. The picture displayed by him is still authentic: only from the western part of the county artefacts datable to the 6th-9th c. have been found, with two exceptions: the belt terminals from Mátészalka and Záhony. During his work on the mentioned study and after it, up to the middle of the 1960s, Csallány excavated several Avarian graves and parts of cemeteries with the help of András Gombás in the territory of Tiszavasvári. Already in the first half of the 1960s, graves of an Early Avarian cemetery were discovered in Tiszadada-Kálvinháza, and a burial with parts of horse in Nyíregyháza, in former Moszkva Street, in the territory of a milk farm (Tejgazdaság). In the first half of the 1980s the Avarian finds of the archaeological collection of the county museum increased in number more and more. In Tiszalök-Kövestelek almost hundred graves of a Late Avarian cemetery were rescued, and further research took place in cemeteries in Tiszavasvári-Koldus domb, Tiszavasvári-Petőfi Street and Tiszalök-Hajnalos. Excavations were conducted in the previously known sites of Buj and Kemecse, and an Avarian cemetery in Tiszabercel-Vékás-dűlő was identified. During road reparation works a burial with a horse was found in Napkor by the road leading to Vásárosnamény. In the 1990s rescue excavations were made in the following sites: two Late Avarian graves in Tiszalök-Szabadság Street, and several N-S oriented ones in Nyírtelek. A rescue excavation in Nyíregyháza-Sóstó, in the territory of the open-air museum, revealed nineteen Late Avarian, N-S oriented graves. Also a rescue excavation started because of the construction works of Motorway M3, revealed forty-six graves of a Late Avarian cemetery near Nyíregyháza-Mandabokor. On the track of the future Motorway M3 on several excavations, parts of 6th-9th c. settlements were unearthed: in Nyíregyháza-Császárszállás and Nyíregyháza-Polyákbokor, Bogár-tanya, and also in Nyíregyháza-Mandabokor close to the Avarian cemetery. Beside it settlement traces were found in Tiszabercel-Sárga domb. After the evaluating work by Dezső Csallány, István Bona summarised the Avarian find material of the county and in connection with it the history of the region in two of his works (BONA 1986., BONA 1993.). As a result of a highly professional, detailed description and typo-chronological analyses of the bead material from the cemetery of TiszavasváriKoldus domb, the chronological definition of the cemetery could be narrowed to the secondthird quarter of the 7th c. (PÁSZTOR 1997.). The material of grave 270 of the Late Avarian cemetery Tiszalök-Kövestelek was published (ARANYAK 1997. 80-101., 156-159.). In the summarising evaluation of the Early Avarian grave ceramics the material of the county was also collected (VIDA 1999. 111-119.). Recently three cemetery parts unearthed in the 1960s in Tiszavasvári were published and analysed (FANCSALSZKY 1999.). However, for the authentic and more detailed picture of the history of this region we have to identify old sites and continue publishing the old and new finds, because from the point of view of the Avarian period in the history of the county, archaeological material is prior to other sources. The present article would like to add some data to this work. Translated by Valéria Kulcsár Gábor LŐRINCZY Móra Ferenc Museum Szeged H-6720 Roosevelt tér 1-3. lorinczy@mfm.hu-szeged.hu 196