Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 33/4. (2013)
Articles
154 E. Gáll with SW-NE orientation were found in the NE part of the cemetery with two exceptions found among graves oriented NW-SE. These observations testify the differences between the burials found in the NE part of the cemetery and those in the SW. Certainly, these few cases might as well be considered accidental, but at the same time they draw attention to the fact that orientation can hardly be explained by the different position of the sun. Even these days graves are dug according to the orientation of the surrounding graves or tombs and it could not have been different a thousand years ago.88 Therefore it is not understandable why some graves are oriented W-E and others differ from this orientation, it might be worth to make a seriation on the gender and age of the deceased and the degrees of orientation in the case of cemeteries with better documentation and anthropological research findings. It can be firmly stated that Transylvanian communities oriented their graves W and E and in these cemeteries the assumption can hardly be defended that the graves were oriented according to the sunsets and sunrises in the different seasons.89 The Graves 141 and 432 oriented almost N and S are in the E side of the cemetery from Däbäca-Casf/e Area IV. In Hungarian literature reverse orientations are usually explained away by the fear of the return of the dead,90 which is a logical assumption in the case of cemeteries where the percentage of reverse oriented graves is insignificant. In the case of Däbäca it is possible that the body was oriented almost N for fear of the return of the deceased person. It can be noted that in this case a pagan custom or a prevailing version of a pagan custom can be observed, which allows us to suppose that the families of the community in the 11th-13th century Däbäca must have known some customs reflecting pagan mentality, which were tolerated by Christianity. A great number of similar reversely oriented graves have been documented in Carpathian Basin from the 10th-11th centuries,91 so we can talk about the remains of a pagan custom prevailing in the Carpathian Basin in an 1 llh-12th century context. 88 A similarly sceptical point of view is presented in the analysis made by Attila Kiss. See Kiss 1983, 122. 89 Csalog 1967, 232; Csalog 1969, 191. 90 Kiss 1983, 158; Szabó 1964, 120-129; К. К. 1996, 39. 91 Reverse orientations registered in churchyard cemeteries have not been collected. Perhaps microregional research, which promise the most, could aim to carry out such analyses. Just a few examples: Tettamanti 1975, 98; Gáli 2004-2005, 343-347. It should be noted that later orientations opposite to the W-E orientation are the mental ‘products’ of the later Middle Ages when W-E orientation and the puritan grave furnishing lost its 11th-13th century symbolic importance as a result of the final victory of Christianity over ‘paganism’. 11.5. Limestone, stone and brick cover graves, graves with brick or stone frames (Fig. 10; PL 2, PL 28, Pi. 35. A) Limestone and stone cover graves can be considered characteristic for the burials in the Carpathian Basin in the 11th-13th centuries. Almost thirty years ago Sarolta Tettamanti wrote: ‘Brick graves (in many variants) can all be found in churchyards, exceptfor Alba Iulia (389). Brick from the Roman times can only be found in the graves here and in Báta .’92 Those graves where stone/stones were found can be divided into two major groups based upon their functions: 1. Practical constructions (PL 2) 2. Stones placed in the graves for religious reasons (?) 1. Built graves (PL 2): 1.1. Graves with carved brick frame: Alba Iulia-jRoman Catholic Cathedral, Alba Iulia- Roman Bath, Cluj-Napoca-Piafa Centralä: Grave 21, Jucu: Graves 5, 13, 23 and 83, Sic. 1.2. Graves with carved brick frames in shape of human body: Alba Iulia-Poman Catholic Cathedral, Cluj-Napoca-Mänäftur: Grave 92. 1.2. a. Partially surrounded with stones in the region of the head: Däbäca-Casf/e Area IV: Grave 251. 1.3.1. Graves with carved brick or stone frames and graves covered with them: Cluj-Napoca-Münáfíur: Grave 93, Cluj-Napoca- Piafa Centralä: Graves 1, 3-5, 8-14. 1.3.2. Partially surrounded graves with brick or stone frames and graves covered with them: Cluj-Napoca-Piafa Centralä: Grave 7, Moresti: Grave 16/1952, Grave 7/1954. 2. According to the position of the stones in the graves, three cases can be distinguished: stones in the grave, stones on the body or its parts, and stone under the skull. 2.1. Stones in the grave: Däbäca-Cösf/e Area IV: Graves 45, 120, 121, 195, 216, 320, 332, 334, 339, 350, 377, 383, 396, 465, 468 and 486.B-C, Däbäca-A. Tämas’s garden: Graves 2-3, 22.A, 37, Jucu: Graves 72, 84 and 88. 92 Tettamanti 1975, 95.
