Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 33/4. (2013)
Articles
70 Á. Ferencz-Mátéfi It is attributed to Celtic people, represented in Dacia for example by the cemetery at Casolt, but here in the type D graves no Celtic pottery was found, roman pottery appears instead.* 42 We would like to add the group of sarcophagus, built of bricks, or carved out of stone blocks, noted as type E in the table below. In this table the number of graves is shown by shape and rite. No inhumation or bustum can occur in an urn, and the unknown rite with unknown shape does not allow any new information. The total number of graves refers to the number of individual graves, that we have some information about, like at least the shape or the rite of them. Unfortunately the largest numbers in the table appear in the unknown shaped cremational graves, in most of the cases the publications does not allow us enough information about these features; in the future these can change the actual standings in the other categories. There are very few inhumations, but the majority of them were laid to rest in a sarcophagus. Inhumations were found at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa,43 44 Porolissum44 and at Romula,45 but sarcophagi were discovered only at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa and Romula. The inhumations from Porolissum and from Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa occurred in graveyards, with one exception, which was found in the so called ‘Aurelius’ Mausoleum’. This is a ring, but unique in Dacia, built with maximum effort and care, even the grave’s lid was carved of marble. In the sarcophagi from Romula one bustum, two inhumation and three unknown grave were registered, all of them in tumuli. This means that in the actual phase of the research, here lies the only tumular cemetery in which inhumation or sarcophagus was found. Likewise it is not surprising, that the existent four graves in urn follows the ustrinum rite. But quite interesting is the low number of them, and the fact, that all these urns were found in the same cemetery at Alburnus Maior-Täul Cornei.46 The shape and rite sometimes fall short of the expectations, for example Babes believes, that the burnt marks on the edge of the type A pits are the results of a ritual purification.47 This theory cannot be confirmed squarely by the fact, that ustrinum type graves are present in the largest number in type A pits, because we have no information if these graves had burnt marks or not. Burnt marks can be also caused by in-situ cremation of the dead, in type A 78 busti were identified. The rite of busti appeared at almost every pit type. In type В almost all the graves followed this rite, and in type D exclusively this rite appears. Type D can be associated exclusively with tumuli at the moment; those 25 graves were discovered at Casolt48 and Ighiu.49 В type graves were discovered at Alburnus Maior, and at Ampelum. At Ampelum one grave was found, which represents the combination of staired grave with tumulus, no other В type grave was found in a tumulus.50 The only ustrinum in a staired grave was found under a stone groundwork at Alburnus Maior-Täul Cornei.51 The only graveyard, in which type В pits were found, is at Alburnus Maior-Täul Secuilor, with three staired graves inside.52 This cemetery hosts the most graves of type B, 10 graves were identified. Generally staired graves in Dacia occurred most of the time in a simple ring built of river stones. Possibly there are more of these simple constructed forms in combination with this grave type in the Alburnus Maior-Täul Secuilor cemetery, up to 127 graves more. These can be either type A or type B, unfortunately not precised.53 There is a link between type В pits and sarcophagi, while in two А В C D E urn unknown total cremation 7 12 2 164 185 bustum________78_______25________15_______25________1_____________________52 196 ustrinum 47 1 15 1 4 14 82 inhumation 1 2 5 1 9 unknown 5 1 3 9 total 138 26 45 25 12 4 231 Г 481 46 Gudea 1989; Macrea et al. 1961. 47 Leahu 1975. 48 Damian 2003a. 49 Babes 1970a, 195-197. 42 Babes 1970a, 196. 50 Macrea 1957; Macrea 1959; Macrea et al. 1959. 43 Garasanin 1968, 28-30. 51 Protase 1971. 44 Nemeti - Nemeti 2003, 411-435. 52 Pescaru et al. 2004. 45 Marcu et al. 2003; Piso et al. 2008. 53 Damian et al. 2003a.
