Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
318 Z. Soós The chronological horizon of the bronze objects identified at the excavation of the Franciscan friary was established based on the stratigraphy of the layers, on the analogies and based on the database of Transylvanian bells and baptistery fountains. Certain elegant ornaments such as book covers or belt buckles were reused for bell decoration even after half a century (Benkő 2002, 174-176). A large part of the decorations were probably borrowed from the local goldsmith’s workshops of the town and these decoration elements are usually chronologically closer to the production date of the bells. Nevertheless, these types of objects are only produced in larger centres and in specialized workshops. The more simple bronze items could have been produced in the workshops of smaller towns as well such as most of the clothing accessories or household tools. Special objects The first group of bronze finds is connected to the presence and the specific activity of the friary. In case of larger medieval friaries it is very likely to find objects that can be linked to the profile and activity of the institution. During the excavation of similar sites depending of the importance of the place there were found objects that referred to different types of activity. It is very likely to find book cover ornaments as friaries and monasteries are the most important places of literacy for centuries. These institutions usually had smaller libraries; larger centres such as Tärgu Mures had scriptoriums and the necessary tools for book binding. During the excavation 9 objects belonging to book binding were found. Among these, the most significant are a perforated ornament representing a chalice surrounded with acanthus leaves (Pi. 1/8), a book corner ornament (PI. 1/7) and the rest was composed of buttons bronze made stripes and clamps. There are two cover ornaments, one corner ornament and one casted ornament having a chalice in the middle. The ornaments we found are rather fragmentary so it would be very difficult to reconstruct a possible late medieval book cover. Excellent analogies are offered by the material discovered at the Pilis Cistercian monastery (Holl 2000) and at the excavations of the Alba Iulia/Gyulafehérvár bishopric palace (Marcu-Istrate 2008; Marcu- Istrate 2009, cat. no. 123-129). The other special objects are rather rare, very specific and one of them is directly connected to the Franciscan order. During the excavations we have found two stili from the 14th century. Used for writing on wax-boards, the medieval stilus has a very wide typology. Both pieces (Pi. 1/3-4) came from a closed context, one is dated to the first half of the 14th century, while the second is very likely from the 14th century but it was identified in a garbage pit from the first half of the 15th century. The first stilus is elaborate, elegant, it has an octagonal shape and it narrows towards the pin part. It has a rounded end, small but thick spatula shape with two half moon carvings at the base. A small carved line is the mark between the spatula ending and the octagonal body of the stilus. Its head is again separated by two small ring decorations from the body followed by a 0.5 cm pin. The stilus is approximately 6 cm long. It was found in an early 14th layer dated - as already mentioned - with the help of dendro-chronological analysis of a beam (1317) and a Charles Robert coin (1342). The layer was identified in an approximately 100 square meter storage building (LI, see Fig. 2), which burned down sometimes in the mid 14th century. Based on the style and rarity of the stilus it is a unique find in the 14th century Hungarian kingdom. The second stilus was identified in building L3 in the filling of the former cellar. It is 15 cm long, its spatula is 3.5 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, the other side ends in a pin. Compared to the other stilus
