"...Scripta manent". Emlékképek a pilisi úgynevezett Gertrúd-sír megtalálásának körülményeiről

The presented memoir is a kind of oral history, the recollection of the events that happened a generation ago and led to the discovery of the presumed burial place of the Hungarian Queen, Gertrude of Andechs-Meran (f28 September 1213). The archaeologist leading the excavation, László Gerevich (1911-1997), wrote scholarly reports about the uncovered grave with several archaeological observations and drawings, but actually his publications did not analyze in details the circumstances of the discovery itself. Gerevich conducted the whole excavation in an architectural approach. In the given year of the discovery, he actually wanted evidence on the question whether between the pillars of the nave there were adjoining stone foundation, or these pillars stood alone with point-like basements. The best place to examine this question appeared to be at the crossing of the church, so an excavation trench had to be traced out accordingly.
The notable event took place on a Friday afternoon, 22 May, in 1981. During the excavation of the grave József Szentpéteri, Csilla Siklódi, and József Laszlovszky were the only ones present, so no one else could fix such details (for example, concerning the filling of the grave) that could be based on eyewitness observations. Gerevich himself was not present that day and István Kiszely, who took a stand on several issues during the processing of the remains, only saw the unearthed and extracted bones later.
A drawing was prepared of the grave corresponding to the rules of the documentation of the age (the early 1980s), and amateur photographs are also available which, however, due to their quality do not allow substantial new information to be gained from them.
In the retrospect of several decades the authors of this article (two of the above named archaeologists being present at the discovery) still believe that the immediate excavation and such documentation of the grave was justified, and the subsequent mixing and loss of skeletal remains cannot be ascribed to the excavation.
The tomb was clearly disturbed. Some of the human skeletal remains were in anatomical position, but next to them there were mixed bones too. The filling of the grave also indicates a serious disturbance.
Already during the excavation the remains of two individuals could be separated in the grave. While one of the corpses was relatively complete, the researchers could find only certain skeletal remains of the other. Generally speaking, the remains of a man and a woman were identified as such, but this could not be clearly stated at the site. Though the archaeologist involved in the excavation identified several characteristics on the skeletons, such an identification could only be the result of a detailed anthropological study, therefore, the on-site observations in this respect cannot be considered as decisive evidence.
In this part of the church, the afore-mentioned trench in the crossing was basically the first excavation surface that reached the grave-level under the disturbed floor. On this basis, it can be stated that one can not exclude the presence of several other unexplored tombs in this central part of the building the future excavation of which can fundamentally affect the interpretation of the so-called Gertrude grave.