GRAVE 1/94 AND NEW DATA REFINING THE CHRONOLOGY OF EARLY MEDIEVAL CASTLE HILL IN NITRA

Based on a detailed analysis of the equipment and stratigraphy of the grave 1/94 on Nitra Castle, the present paper presents most recent information about the chronology of the settlement on the Castle Hill. Burying the dead on the hill started with the early medieval settlement in the area (8th/9th c.) and continued until the destruction of the wooden-soil chamber rampart in the second half of the 11th c. The grave 1/94 itself should be dated back to the second half of the 9th c. The density of equipped graves in the north-east part of the hill shows that the area was used primarily for funeral purposes. Graves were found in the area of the Plague Column and in the casemates of the south-eastern bastion. Probably, the area had served as a burial ground before the wooden-soil fortifications around the castle (rampart I) were built in the second half of the 9th c. Funerary customs changed only at the end of the 11th c. when the area by the St. Emmeram’s Church was transformed into a cemetery.