Horváth László: A magyarszerdahelyi kelta és római temető - Zalai Gyűjtemény 14. (Zalaegerszeg, 1979)
Irodalomjegyzék
The placement of the Roman findspots, indicated on Picture No. 19, clearly draws the line of this road. A surprisingly dense net of settlements enfolds before us in the surroundings of Nagykanizsa. We know about settlements which had even several stone buildings and a lot of import-goods which point out the importance of the diagonal road. This in not surprising, as this region is that part of Pannónia, which was nearest to Italy. Knowing the geographical situation of the abovesketched roads and of the cemetery, the extremely rich importgoods of the Roman burial place at Magyarszerdahely and the strong Southwest-Pannonian links of other finds (e. g. leaf-marked dishes, shapes of urns, urns with cross-shaped bottom-marks etc.), are not due to mere accidents. The use of the Celtic cemetery could be continued in the Roman period, about 50 A. C. (on basis of fragment No. 20), and it has been used for burials until about 260, without interruption (Picture No. 17). We may accept the date for the middle of the 3rd century not only on basis of the „terra sigillata" and coins, it is also proved by the chronological situation of the bottom-stamped urns. Several urns with cross-shaped bottom-stamps have been excavated in the environment of Nagykanizsa and on one findspot (Annex B findspot 51) very many urn-fragments with similar bottom-stamps have been found in a dwelling-pit dated by a Valerianus coin. The ending of the use of the Roman cemetery may be due to the attack of the Barbarians, around 260 A. C. Thus the origin of our Roman cemetery dates from the period when Savaria was raised to the rank of „colonia" (during, the reign of Claudius) and the predecessor of the future „Salla municipium" developed. The goods of the merchants from Italy appear, though at that time still in small numbers. The strikingly great number of the „sigillatae" found in the burialground, the way of burial show the presence of a strongly Italic, probably North —Italian ethnic unit. The names scratched onto the dishes (Avitus, Enatia = Egnatia) as well as the inscription of the previously excavated grave-stone are unambiguously of North-Italian, presumably Aquilean origin. In the way of burial we can not point out any autochthonous character. When digging the pits for the Roman graves, they had never disturbed the Celtic burials. That is: in the 1st to 3rd centuries A. C. the „Romans" knew, even saw, where the earlier Celtic graves were placed. The fact in itself that they have established their burial-ground on the same place indicates the relation. The fact that they have never destroyed the earlier graves makes us draw the conclusion, that they have respected same. This respect, however, may be imagined only in case also the native population have used the ground in the Roman period. Similarly to the way of burial, the grave-goods do not show any native character either, except if we consider the very frequently turning up of comb —decorated urns. Explicitely we have thought only in one case of a Celtic from (Urn No. 36/12). Thus, on one hand the presence of the native population enfolds itself to us very clearly, on the other hand the strong effect of the Italic influence the riches of the import-goods. We can explain this by presuming, that it was a burial-ground in the Roman period in which native population — which probably could have romanized very soon — coexists with the Italic elements
