Ein besonderer Bestattungsbrauch: „Leere“ Gräber in der Awarenzeit

In the past decades researchers examining burial customs have recognised local phenomena pointing to the cultural diversity of the Avar population inhabiting the Carpathian Basin. Thus it has been proposed that several groups of different traditions and cultures may have coexisted in the territory of the Avars. In the recently excavated 7th–8th-century Avar cemeteries near Szekszárd (Szekszárd-Tószegidűlő, Tolna-Mözs-Fehérvize-dűlő) another — already known (Szekszárd-Bogyiszlói út és Gyönk-Vásártér út cemetery) — characteristic phenomenon was observed that can now be regarded as a regional feature. The paper discusses this burial type - which has recently also been found in great numbers in the cemetery of Tolna-Mözs —, namely the empty graves containing no human remains. Empty burials have been known in cemeteries of the Avar Age, however, their number is usually insignificant compared to the total number of graves. The aim of this paper is to analyse the possible reasons for empty graves and to show that they were the result of a conscious custom, most probably intended as symbolic burials