Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 33/4. (2013)
Articles
Data concerning changes in a cemetery surrounding a medieval church 263 was dated with the help of the denarius minted in 1622 under Ferdinand II.78 From this period are the fragments of a pending ornament, weak, corroded copper discs decorated with engravings. One of the pieces, on which we can still see the copper wire fastening ring, appears to bear the head of a bird. The pieces bear patterns engraved on their surface (Plate 12.12). An interesting find were iron fragments of a chest handle, a button and nail with a folded end used to fasten the handles or the lid of the chest. The handle of the chest, found in mediocre condition, was forged from an angular iron beam, and was decorated by torsion of the beam. The interior of the ring formed by the folded nail, found in good condition, had distinguishable traces of wear. The filling of grave 53 yielded part of a chest lock fitting in the lid of the chest (Plate 12.18-21). In the 18th century graves, mostly the parts of accessories of clothing elements were preserved. A clothing clip was found in grave 114, near the left hand, copper buttons were found in the chest area in grave 168 (Plate 12.7), and in grave GR-178 the upper part and the shoulders of the clothing were adorned with stitched decorations, made from small sheet metal pieces, on both the left and right side (Plate 11.5, 12.13). A more thorough analysis of the graves offers unique opportunities to follow the changes and the use of a medieval cemetery, and from the anthropological analysis of the recovered bone material one can find out important details concerning the daily lives, lifestyles and diseases of the people, as well as gain valuable information about burial rituals, their evolution and changes. The rescue excavations showed the existence of an early cemetery wall and the existence of a settlement layer dated to the Árpád dynasty, thus predating the church, but also answering many questions regarding the features of the 12th-13th century cemetery and its size. Appendix The burial descriptions focus primarily on the depth and orientation of the graves, the gender and age of the deceased, features of the skeleton and the position of the bones. We determined the age and gender of the excavated skeletons on the spot. A follow-up anthropological examination has not yet confirmed our data so this is only informative. Grave depths are given in relative values. Abbreviations used: M - depth, T - orientation (in the cases where we were unsure about the angle we made due with just showing the orientation), N - gender, К - age, P - period GR-1: pit 1., M: -1.83 m, T: 253°, K: adultus, P: 12th— 13th cent. The stretched skeleton was preserved only from the waist down, its left hand was beside the body, the bones were preserved in good condition, its filling was dark grey, thick humus, yielding a belt buckle in secondary position. It is intersected by GR-2 and the tower’s south western pillar. GR-2: pit 1, M: -1.76 m, T: 265°, K: infans I, P: 16th cent. The stretched skeleton was preserved only from the femur down, its bones were preserved in good condition, its filling was dark grey, containing chunks of mortar and fresco fragments. It had been buried over GR-1, and it is intersected by the towers south western pillar. GR-3: pit 1, M: -1.83 m, T: 278°, K: infans II, P: 16th cent. The skull and the right side of the stretched skeleton had been disturbed, its right hand was stretched along the body, its filling contained chunks of mortar and fresco fragments. It is intersected by the towers south western pillar, it disturbed GR-5. GR-4: pit 1, M: -1.76 m, T: 270°, K: adultus, P: 12th-13th cent. The stretched skeleton was preserved in a shattered state, its filling was brownish grey and thick. It is intersected by both the wall of the tower and that of the nave. GR-5: pit 1, M: -1.89 m, T: 278°, K: infans I, P: 16th cent. The stretched skeleton was preserved in a shattered state; its filling was dark grey, thick humus with chunks of mortar. It is intersected by the tower’s south eastern pillar and the remains of coffin planks from GR-3 were recovered from here. GR-6: pit 1, M: -1.98 m, T: 252°, K: adultus, P: 12th— 13th cent. The stretched skeleton was preserved in good condition, only its right leg and the pelvis were excavated, its filling was dark grey, thick, slightly mixed with mortar chunks. The body’s left side is intersected by the tower’s wall, it is newer than GR-4. 78 Benkő 1992, 176.
