The Question of the Centres of Power in the light of the Necropolises from the 10th Century in Transylvanian Basin. The case of the Cluj’s necropolises

The great concentration of weapons from 10th century cemeteries in Cluj attests the important role this weapon category may have played in the community and its mnemonic qualities. The large quantity of weapons in general and specifi cally of sabres may indicate that the members of a professional warrior class could have been buried here. The varied types of horse burial suggest the heterogeneous traditions of this community and the many sabres, which are rare in other regions, may be the funerary expression of a special group identity. These communities were organised here, their group identity developed here. The topographical position of the cemeteries makes this situation even more unequivocal: these are situated on the higher terraces of the Someş River along the former Roman roads, from where they could control the whole Someş valley

Néhány gondolat a Kis-Szamos völgyének Árpád-kori településterületéről (11. század ‒ 13. század első fele)

Despite the fact that the research of the Arpadian age has long been neglected concerning this geographic area, our paper aims to introduce some new perspec - tives concerning the dynamics of its settlement, administrative organization, and the relation between the early power centres and the peripheral, rural areas. By analysing the more or less accessible archaeo - logical material of 38 or 39 sites, as well as the potential of the habitat, it’s becoming clearer, that the early, 10 th century colonization of the area was motivated and driven by the large quantity of the exploitable salt in the region, as well as the remnants of the antique road infrastructure. The localization of the early, 10 th century center of power in the Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvár/ Klausenburg region (mainly near its Kövespad region marked by the graves with weapons and horses) can be attributed to these two factors. This early centre of power most probably dissolved during the early 11 th century, simultaneously with the creation of a new, western type form of administration, the county ( vármegye ). Out of the two castles which are in the geographic area of our research, the one with the fortification in Mănăştur at its centre seems to be the earlier, as it can be dated to the beginning of the 11 th century. The castle of Dăbâca/Doboka seems to be a somewhat later creation, dating to the first half of the 11 th century. In the valley of the River Lonea/ Lónya there is no archeological data yet to prove the existence of any population with the same legal status as the group of the Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvár-Kövespad region in the 10 th century or any other population in this period. The influence of the Mănăştur centre in the microregion of the Someșul Mic/Kis-Szamos region became more increasing in the 11 th and 12 th centuries, which can be observed on the archaeological presence of some settlements in its vicinity, dated to the 11 th century, and a yet hardly, but increasingly traceable settlement-network in the 12 th century. The function - ality of the Dăbâca centre is not fully understood yet, but it can be presumed that its main purposes were the defence of the border and the salt supply. The recent dating to the 12 th century of some churches in the rural area ‒ outside the valley of the Someșul Mic , in the valleys of its tributaries ‒ indicates the presence of the early settlement of these periph - eral regions, and presumes the presence of a road system as well, which may have been connected to the northwestern exit of the Transylvanian Basin, the Meseș/Meszes -pass. It is also presumable the existence of a densely settled rural area developing in the 12 th century near the Mănăştur region, which provided the economic hinterland of the reasonably wealthy Benedictine convent, founded in the 2 nd half of the 11 th century. However, the existence of this rural hinterland is hard to prove due to the recent urban development of the area