A Veszprém Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 24. (Veszprém, 2006)

S. Perémi Ágota: Újabb avar kori leletek Veszprém megyében II. A nemesvámos-Kapsa utcai avar kori sírok

FURTHER FINDS FROM THE AVAR AGE IN VESZPRÉM COUNTY II THE AVAR GRAVES OF KAPSA STREET, NEMESVÁMOS With the disclosing of the graves from the Avar Age in Nemesvámos, we continue the corpus-like publication of the graves and cemeteries from the Avar Age, which have been found in the last few decades in Veszprém County. Nemesvámos is a village that can be found in the neighbourhood of the southern part of Veszprém, next to the road connecting Veszprém and Tapolca (Fig.l.). A part of this cemetery from the Avar Age has been known for a long time in the specialized literature. The cemetery was found at Nagykúti-field, which is known for its finds from the prehistoric, Roman and Arpadian Ages. But until this time we have not had any finds from the migration period. The site is situated at the south-eastern border of Nemesvámos, on a hill that descends mainly from the north-east to the south-west, and the hill is situated to the east from the road that goes through Nemesvámos towards Veszprémfajsz. (Fig.

2.) At the end of the 90s, the fields that had been under crop became inner-city areas. The area was divided up and new streets were created (Patak, Baláca, Kapsa Street). The patches were sold by the local self-government to private individuals. At the end of 2001, the proprietors in the area, enclosed by the three streets started earthwork for the public utilities without permission. The workers of the museum had to stop these works (Fig. 3.) Preceding excavations took place in the streets between May 14 and July 15, 2002. The graves of the Avar Age were found in Kapsa Street, in stretch of land, which was marked by poles 5 and 4 (the topographical lot number of the place is 932/96). The distance between the two poles was 20 metres, the indicated track was 7 metres wide. Until the earthworks were halted in 2001, at least one grave had been demolished in Kapsa Street (grave 10). During the excavation in Baláca Street, no graves were found. In 2003, during the preceding excavations in Baláca Street and Kapsa Street, no further graves were found, so it is presumed that the remaining burial places can be found mainly in the places east and north of Kapsa Street. In the marked area, 14 graves were found (Fig. 4.) BURIAL CUSTOMS In the graves of the part of the cemetery, it is usual to find graves lying W;SW-E;SE. It can be observed in nine cases (graves 3., 4., 6., 7., 11., 12., 13., 14. and 15.) Opposite that is NE-SW burials is observed only in case of grave 2. The WE burial is the characteristic of the early Avar period, still it can also be found in ninth century burials. Deviation from the WE line to the south is the characteristic of graves from later times. The finds of the graves of Nemesvámos prove that they were graves of the later period. The NE-SW direction of grave 2 is the opposite of the usual graves. Such opposite graves can be found in almost every cemetery, mainly at the side of the graveyard, as it is in the case of the grave found in Nnemesvámos. The shape of the graves, where data were provided, was mainly a rectangular pit grave. The graves of the adults were usually 150 cm deep and the graves of the children were a bit shallower. The skeletons, where data were provided, were lying stretching out on their backs. The skull was either tilting to the right (2., 3/b. skeleton, 6., 11.) or to the left (4., 7., 8.) In the case of grave 13, the skull was found 18 cm above the rest of the body, which may have been due to some disturbance caused by an animal. The bones of the arms were mainly stretching out beside the body. Different positions do not represent burial customs. The right forearm bones of skeleton 3/b were placed on the pelvis, so that the skeleton could be placed right next to another one. In grave 7, the arm bones were tight to the body, which means that they might have been wrapped in a blanket at the time of the burial. In connection with the graves of Nemesvámos, there is no evidence referring to coffins, however, clay "stripes" were found while unearthing two graves. It is possible that they were originally the remains of some organic (?) material, which was used to cover or wrap up the skeleton. In grave 3, family burial (man, woman and child) was unearthed. The dominant male skeleton is on the right-hand side of the grave pit. Very close to him, party in the arms of the man, the skeleton of the woman was found. The child was placed at the feet of the adults. Mass burials are characteristics mainly of the late Avar Age. It can be explained with the growing number of epidemics, while Peter Tomka claims that it is also possible that it is due to the chaotic historical and social circumstances of the late Avar Age. They might have brought about abnormal reactions within a community: the number of suicides and violence through revenge increased. The family grave (3.) of Nemesvámos may be connected such events as well. There was no grave furniture found in child graves 5., 9., 16. and in grave 15., which was disturbed by a pit from the Arpadian Age. The same thing happened with grave 10., which was totally destroyed when the pipeline for the water was built. In none of the family burials of Nemesvámos were grave furniture and pottery found. Animal bones were found in five graves. There is no sign of contemporary disturbance or plunder of the graves. Graves 13., 2. and 8. were disturbed by an animal and the same thing might have happened to grave 11. Grave 15. was disturbed when a pit from the Arpadian Age was dug out, while grave 10. was disturbed in Modern Times, although only the place could be recorded. According to the finds, there were four women (graves 6., 11., 13. and 14), two men (graves 4. and 12.), four children (graves 5., 7., 9. and 16) buried in the graves. Graves 2., 8.(?), 10. and 15. were of adults. Family burial took place in case of grave three including a man, a woman and a child. 78