Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 33/4. (2013)
Articles
Churchyards in the Transylvanian Basin from the 11th to the first half of the 13th centuries 165 12. The finds 12.1. Introduction In funerary symbolism, as in everyday life, the femininity is and always has been expressed by jewellery, as opposed to the furnishing of (free) men, which were characterised by weapons in the early Middle Ages. The prestige, rank and status gained in this time period cannot be represented otherwise in the graves either, so the appearance of weapons in the graves is not surprising. The situation is different with jewellery. Jewellery is mainly known from female graves, which is a phenomenon that cannot be considered general by far. In the archaeological finds, gender should not be interpreted in its biological sense, but as a cultural and social construction, therefore it is not surprising that object representing masculinity can also be found in female graves and the other way round, especially in ‘pagan times ’,127 which showed various burial customs. The (burial) practice of the Christian population brought a simplification of the burial customs (of course, only from an archaeological point of view), so the poor grave furnishings make the research of gender almost impossible. At the same time, it is nearly impossible to calculate the chronological margins of the use of fashion elements (hair ring, finger ring, bracelets, etc.), opposed to weapons, which disappeared from graves. The elements of fashion (jewellery) are not so much connected to practical issues, and as social-psychological phenomena spread and go out of fashion. In the case of use of an object depended completely on a person or a community, therefore should be investigated independently in each and every archaeological situation. For these social-psychological reasons it is very difficult to draw up a chronological frame of the use of jewellery. Burials are very important sources, because they usually reflect the material culture of the population in the Árpád era. According to some surveys, only 1% of the graves from the time of the Hungarian Conquest and the Árpád era have been excavated so far .128 127 A few examples from the time of the Hungarian Conquest, the Anglo-Saxon England and Scandinavia, see: Gall 2013c, 335. 128 K. K. 1996, 37. 12.2. Hair rings (Fig. 18-22; PI. 4, Pi. 10-19, PI. 20, PI. 32-34, Pi. 37, PI. 40, PI. 42, PI. 45-46, 47. l.A, Pi. 50-51) Each used type and sub-type of lock-ring jewellery and/or hair rings was a classical fashion design, therefore a considerable amount was found in the IIth- 13th century graves both in the Carpathian Basin and in the whole CE European region .129 We have information of these jewels from 32 sites of 54 (Alba Iulia-Cathedral, Alba Iulia-Roman Bath, Avrämesti, Brädesti, Chidea, C'vpäu-Sfäntu Gheorghe, Cluj-Napoca-Máná^fwr, Cluj-Napoca-Piato Centralä, Cristuru Secuiesc, Däbäca-A. Tämaf garden, Dabaca-Castle Area IV, Däbäca-Boldagä/Boldogasszony, Dräu^eni, Feldioara, Geoagiu de Jos, Giläu, Jucu, Media$, More^ti, Mugeni, Odorheiu Secuiesc-Sántimreu, Säncraiu de Mure§, Sängeorgiu de Mure§, Sänväsii, Sibiu, Sighi§oara-DeaIul Viilor, $irioara, Streisängeorgiu, Miercurea Ciuc-§umuleu, Väleni, Viscri, Ulies). In many cases their function remains ambiguous, not just because they are single finds but also their functionality is debatable: their position in the grave may refer to a hair ring, a hair ring, but they might as well have been used as earrings .130 Their material, on which we have made a statistical analysis, is silver and bronze alloy. Because of the variety of forms, patterns and sizes among the hair rings, their typological and size-focussed categorisation is demonstrated in a table. The underlying rule was that the size of the hair rings should be compared to their shape, cross-section and ornamentation :131 * * The statistical analysis reveals that the bronze hair rings constitute the majority in the graves of the churchyards from Transylvanian Basin (172 silver pieces compared to the 184 bronze ones and 2 copper alloy). 129 In Poland, plain hair rings are known only in small quantity, whereas hair rings with S-shaped ends in large quantity. The situation is similar in the northern parts of Bohemia and Slovakia. We know a lot fewer hair rings from Bulgarian graves. Fiedler 1992; Jazdzewski 1949, 91-191; Marciniak 1960, 141-186. 130 Several examples relating to this issue: Gáli 2013c, I, 649-653. 131 This analysis contains 386 hair ring samples from the funerary sites in Alba lul'm-Cathedral, Alba Iulia-Roman Bath, Avrämesti, Cluj-Napoca-Mána^fur, Cluj-Napoca, Cristuru Secuiesc, Däbäca-A. Tämaf garden, Däbäca- Castle Area IV, Däbäca-Boldägä/Boldogasszony, Dräu^eni, Geoagiu de Jos, Giläu, Moresti, Odorheiu Secuiesc- Säntimreu, Sighisoara-Dealul Viilor, Streisängeorgiu, Miercurea Ciuc-$umuleu, Ulie§.
