Publisher's Synopsis
English summary: The 76th volume of the series "Romisch-Germanische Forschungen" focuses on investigations of man and environment in the surroundings of a Longobard period cemetery at Lake Balaton. It is a result of the investigation of the Szolad cemetery begun in 2005 by the Romano-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute (RGK) and the Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The careful presentation and evaluation of all data from archaeological and natural scientific investigations forms a fundamental contribution to the discussion of collective or ethnic identities: Which historical actors were buried in the graves? Do they represent historiographically attested groups - such as the gens of the Lombards known from written sources? Thus, the data collected in Szolad also became part of the reference group for the large-scale international research project "HistoGenes", which plays a major role in the current discussion about the significance of aDNA analyses for the archaeology and history of the Migration Period (4th-8th centuries). The volume Szolad I deals with the carefully documented features of the cemetery together with the results of investigations on the area as well as on anthropology and archaeozoology. The planned second volume will present the finds and the combined evaluation of all results. The village of Szolad lies on the periphery of the southern bank of the Balaton. How the landscape presented itself to the arriving settlers in the 6th century and how human influence, despite fertile soils, weakened in the following period is the subject of this volume, as is the question of how the farming community practised agriculture, animal husbandry, and fishing and used the natural vegetation. The loess in which the graves were sunk offers excellent preservation conditions, and so, for example, wooden plates can still be recognised, from which the eggs seem to have rolled down only yesterday. In addition to tools and equipment put in the graves, we also encounter birds and fish and a whole horse. But the bones of the buried are also excellently preserved and allow extensive examinations of adults and children. In addition, the good conditions allow a detailed reconstruction of the burial grounds and thus provide insight into how death and the dead were dealt with in a small farming community at the transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages. English summary: Volume 76 of the monograph series "Romisch-Germanische Forschungen" presents research into a Lombard period burial site near Lake Balaton, with a particular focus on human-environmental relations. The volume presents joint investigations of the Szolad burial ground carried out by the Romano-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute (RGK) and the Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from 2005 onwards. Careful presentation and evaluation of data ranging from archaeological excavations through to all relevant scientific analyses makes this an essential contribution to the discussion of collective or ethnic identities: which historical actors were buried here? Do they represent historiographically attested groups - such as the gens of the Lombards known from literary sources? The dataset from Szolad forms part of the reference group for the large-scale international research project "HistoGenes", a major element in the current discussion regarding the significance of aDNA analyses for Migration Period (4th-8th centuries) history and archaeology.Szolad I contextualises the carefully documented features of the site within a wider framework of landscape-archaeological investigations as well as anthropological and archaeozoological analyses. A planned second volume will present the finds and the combined evaluation of all results.The village of Szolad is situated at the periphery of the southern bank of Lake Balaton. The volume lays out how the landscape presented itself to the arriving settlers in the 6th century and shows how human impact, despite fertile soils, gradually decreased in subsequent periods. In this, a key question is how the farming communities of the time practised agriculture, animal husbandry and fishing and used the natural habitat. The local loess-soils resulted in excellent preservation levels; wooden plates, for example, were documented and the eggs seemed to have rolled down only yesterday. The graves contained tools and equipment as grave goods, but also birds and fish and an entire horse. The bones of the deceased are equally well-preserved and allow for extensive archaeological study and analyses of both adults and children. In addition, the excellent state of preservation made it possible to reconstruct the burials themselves in great detail, providing insights into how death and the dead were dealt with by a small farming community at the transition from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages. German description: Der 76. Band der Reihe "Romisch-Germanische Forschungen" stellt Untersuchungen zu Mensch und Umwelt im Umfeld eines langobardenzeitlichen Graberfelds am Balaton in den Mittelpunkt. Er ist ein Resultat der 2005 von der Romisch-Germanischen Kommission des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts (RGK) und vom Archaologischen Institut der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften begonnenen Untersuchung des Graberfeldes Szolad. Die sorgfaltige Vorlage und Auswertung aller Daten aus archaologischen und naturwissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen bildet einen fundamentalen Beitrag zur Diskussion von kollektiven bzw. ethnischen Identitaten: Welche historischen Akteure wurden in den Grabern bestattet? Reprasentieren sie historiographisch belegte Gruppen - wie eben jener schriftlich bezeugten gens der Langobarden? So wurden die in Szolad erhobenen Daten auch Teil der Referenzgruppe fur das grossangelegte internationale Forschungsvorhaben "HistoGenes", das die gegenwartige Diskussion um den Stellenwert von aDNA-Analysen fur die Archaologie und Geschichte der Volkerwanderungszeit (4.-8. Jahrhundert) massgeblich pragt. Der Band Szolad I behandelt die sorgsam dokumentierten Befunde des Graberfeldes zusammen mit den Ergebnissen landschaftsarchaologischer Untersuchungen zur Fundstelle sowie zur Anthropologie und Archaozoologie. Im geplanten zweiten Band wird die Vorlage der Funde und die kombinierte Auswertung aller Ergebnisse folgen. Das Dorf Szolad liegt an der Peripherie des Sudufers des Balatons. Wie die Landschaft sich den ankommenden Siedlern im 6. Jahrhundert prasentierte und wie der menschliche Einfluss, trotz fruchtbarer Boden, in der Folgezeit schwacher wurde, thematisiert der Band ebenso wie die Frage, wie die bauerliche Gemeinschaft Ackerbau, Viehzucht und Fischfang betrieb und die naturliche Vegetation nutzte. Der Loss, in den die Graber eingetieft worden waren, bietet ausgezeichnete Erhaltungsbedingungen, und so lassen sich beispielsweise noch holzerne Teller erahnen, von denen die Eier scheinbar erst gestern herunterrollten. Uns begegnen neben Beigaben von Geratschaften auch Vogel und Fische und ein ganzes Pferd. Aber auch die Knochen der Bestatteten sind hervorragend uberliefert und erlauben umfangreiche Untersuchungen an Erwachsenen und Kindern. Zudem lassen die guten Bedingungen eine detaillierte Rekonstruktion der Grabanlagen zu und geben so Einblick in den Umgang mit dem Tod und den Toten in einer kleinen bauerlichen Gemeinschaft am Ubergang von der Spatantike zum Mittelalter.
