Avar-Age Polearms and Edged Weapons: Classification, Typology, Chronology and Technology

563 Pages·2015·18.12 MB·english

by  Gergely Csiky

Avar-Age Polearms and Edged Weapons
East Central and Eastern Europe
in the Middle Ages, 450–1450
Edited by
Florin Curta
Volume 32
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ecee
Avar-Age Polearms
and Edged Weapons
Classification, Typology, Chronology and Technology
By
Gergely Csiky
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Ring-pommel sword covered with gold decoration from Bócsa burial as a symbol power.
Courtesy of the Hungarian National Museum.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Csiky, Gergely, 1979- author.
 Avar-age polearms and edged weapons : classification, typology, chronology and technology / by Gergely
Csiky.
  pages cm. — (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages ; volume 32)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-22661-6 (hardback : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-90-04-30454-3 (e-book) 1. Polearms—Europe,
Eastern—History. 2. Swords—Europe, Eastern—History. 3. A vars—Antiquities. I. Title.
 U872.C75 2015
 623.4’41—dc23
2015028922
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issn 1872-8103
isbn 978-90-04-22661-6 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-30454-3 (e-book)
Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
List of Figures, Maps and Diagrams xi
Abbreviations xxvi
Abbreviation of Museums xxxi
1 Introduction 1
1 Objectives 4
2 History of Research 7
2.1 Antiquarian Perspective and Cataloguing Artefacts 8
2.2 Classification and Typology 11
2.3 Ethnic Interpretations and Questions of Origin 16
2.4 Social Reconstruction 23
3 Methods Applied in this Study 28
3.1 Terminology and the Methods of Classification 28
3.2 Technology 46
3.3 Chronology and Distribution 53
3.4 Armament and Society 61
3.5 Methods of Data Collection 64
2 Polearms 68
1 Classification of Polearms 69
1.1 Reed-shaped Spearheads (P.I) 70
1.2 Conical Spearheads (P.II) 104
1.3 Lenticular (Leaf-shaped) Spearheads (P.III) 111
1.4 Triangular Spearheads (P.IV) 135
1.5 Javelins (P.V) 141
2 Ferrules 143
3 Shafts 144
4 Representations of Polearms 146
5 Conclusions 149
3 Edged Weapons 152
1 Classification of Edged Weapons 153
1.1 Double-edged Swords (E.I) 154
1.2 Single-edged Swords (E.II) 173
1.3 Sabres (E.III) 192
1.4 Seaxes (E.IV) 215
vi contents
2 The Fittings of Edged Weapons 232
2.1 The Hilt 232
2.2 The Crossguard 245
2.3 Decoration of the Scabbard 259
2.4 The Chape 264
3 Suspension 265
3.1 One-point Suspension 266
3.2 Two-point Suspension 273
4 Conclusions 288
4 Technology—Manufacturing Techniques 292
5 Chronology—Continuity and Discontinuity 299
1 Early Avar I. (568–620s) 299
2 The Turn of the 6th–7th Century 301
3 Early Avar II. (610–650) 302
4 Middle Phase (650–700) 302
5 Late Avar I. (700–750) 303
6 Late Avar II. (750–820?) 304
7 General Types Characteristic of Longer Timespans 305
6 Origins and Cultural Contacts 306
1 The East and the Steppe Lands 306
1.1 Polearms 307
1.2 P-shaped Suspension Loops 311
1.3 Ring-pommel Swords 315
1.4 Sabres 318
2 Southern Mediterranean Region 326
2.1 Crossguards Cast of Copper Alloy 328
2.2 P-shaped Suspension Loops 331
3 Western Germanic Area 332
3.1 Early Phase 332
3.2 Middle and Late Phase 336
3.3 Questions in the Research on Seaxes 342
3.4 Chronological Problems of Seaxes and the Difficulties of
Chronological Synchronisation 345
Contents vii
7 Armament and Society 348
1 Deposition of Weapons in Burials—Cemeteries and Regional
Differences 348
2 The Deposition of Polearms and Edged Weapons in Burials—
Chronology and Combinations 359
3 The Position of Polearms and Edged Weapons in Burials 362
3.1 Polearms 362
3.2 Edged Weapons 372
4 Weapons and Age Groups of the Deceased 382
5 Conclusions 389
8 Armament and Cavalry Warfare in the Aver-age Carpathian Basin 391
9 General Conclusions 400
References 409
Maps 454
Index 517

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Tivadar Vida and Professor
Csanád Bálint, my research supervisors, for their patient guidance, invaluable
advices and enthusiastic encouragement of this research work. I would also
like to thank Dr. Éva Garam and Dr. Béla Miklós Szőke for their useful critiques
of the doctoral thesis upon which this book is based.
My grateful thanks are also extended to my colleagues at the Institute of
Archaeology of Research Center for Humanities of Hungarian Academy of
Sciences for assuring a motivating and inspiring working environment: László
Kovács, Miklós Takács, Éva Somlósi, Ádám Bollók, Ádám Bíró, Péter Langó,
András Patay-Horváth and Attila Türk. I am particularly grateful for the assis-
tance in graphical design provided by Zsolt Réti.
I am very much indepted to the colleagues working in various museums of
Hungary for their support during my museum researches: Zsuzsanna Hajnal
and Gergely Szenthe (Hungarian National Museum, Budapest); Margit Nagy
and Attila Horváth (Budapest History Museum); János József Szabó and Mária
Béres (Koszta József Museum, Szentes); Eszter Szőnyi, Péter Tomka, Szilvia
Bíró and Zoltán Pusztai (Xantus János Museum, Győr); Gábor Lőrinczy, Béla
Kürti, Csilla Balogh, Orsolya Lajkó (Móra Ferenc Museum, Szeged); János Ódor
(Wosinsky Mór Museum, Szekszárd), Gyula Fülöp and Frigyes Szücsi (Szent
István Király Museum, Székesfehérvár); Ibolya Nepper, Krisztián Antal Szilágyi
and Tünde Csutak (Déri Museum, Debrecen); Ágota Perémi (Laczkó Dezső
Múzeum, Veszprém); Eszter Istvánovits, Gábor Pintye and Attila Jakab (Jósa
András Museum, Nyíregyháza); József Lukács (Nyíregyháza); Erika Wicker
(Katona József Museum, Kecskemét); Róbert Müller (Balaton Museum,
Keszthely); Gábor Kiss (Savaria Museum, Szombathely).
I am very grateful to my Slovakian colleagues for supporting me in my
collection data from various collections: Jozef Zábojník, Gabriel Fusek and
Martin Husár (AÚ SAV, Nitra); Katarina Tomčíková (Slovak National Museum,
Bratislava); Július Béreš, Mária Lamiová-Schmiedlová (AÚ SAV, Košice); Pavel
Paterka and Hajnalka Szabó (Danube Region Museum, Komárno). I would
also ike to express my gratitude to my Austrian colleagues who helped me in
Vienna: Falko Daim, Erik Szameit, Hajnalka Herold, Matthias Mehofer and
Norbert Hofer. Colleagues from Romania helped me in the study of archae-
ological heritage of Transylvania: Ioan Marian Ţiplic, Alpár Dobos, Coriolan
Horatiu Opreanu, Călin Cosma.