A new carriage grave and horse burial from Belvárdgyula (Baranya county)

Abstract

This study discusses the discovery and excavation of a particularly fascinating Roman Period burial representing a rare mortuary rite alongside its preliminary assessment. The burial was discovered by a local archaeology enthusiast on the outskirts of Belvárdgyula: the following excavation in autumn 2021 brought to light a grave pit containing a carriage with a horse team and the burial of a harnessed saddle horse. The carriage is noteworthy not only for its Bacchic bronze sculptural ornamentation and its structural elements but also because of the burial mode involving the partial deposition of carriage components and the yoke, enabling the reconstruction of the horse team. The horse burial provided yet another example of a Pannonian saddle horse interred with an openwork bronze harness fitting set. Both graves yielded a surprisingly high amount of organic remains (wood, leather, and textile) that have enriched our knowledge of the period’s horse harnesses and team-drawn carriages. The burials uncovered at Belvárdgyula have added new details to our overall picture of the local native population of eastern Transdanubia, particularly regarding carriage graves, a distinctive burial type that differs markedly from the funerary rites of Roman-type interments.