270 CHAPTER 3
Pyramid-shaped spatha buttons are found singly442 or in pairs on the blade
of the spatha, usually c. 10 cm from the hilt.443 These spatha buttons are charac-
teristic of the 7th century Merovingian world. Their function was determined
by Wilfried Menghin444 who reconstructed them on the scabbard with a strap
connected to the belt.445 Their occurrence in pairs is common in Merovingian
burials446 but in some cases such artefacts are found singularly.447
Menghin differentiated three types of pyramid-shaped spatha buttons:
1 simple pyramid-shaped buttons made of silver, copper alloy or iron with
inlay, and some decorated with cloisonné technique
2 rectangular or triangular mounts with pyramid-shaped projection and
with two or three rivets
3 flat pyramid-shaped buttons made of bone with verticular hole.448
Among the above listed types, the buttons cast of copper alloy are the most
common in both Merovingian and Avar cemeteries. Most of these buttons
were found in the Rhine Valley and in south and western Germany, though
they were also used in Italy.449
A star-shaped copper alloy strap-dividing mount with a pyramid-shaped
button in its centre and four triangular projections decorated with pointed
crescents is known from grave No. 39 at the Kölked–Feketekapu A cemetery
and was probably used for spatha suspension. These mounts were deposited
between the right leg and the spatha450 which already suggests a two-point
suspension method.451 Pyramid-shaped buttons are dated to the second half
442 Vida 2000, 170.
443 Kölked–Feketekapu B grave No. 82 (Kiss 2001, 27–28, II. Taf. 28/10, 12); Kölked–Feketekapu
B grave No. 132 (Kiss 2001, 65–66, Taf. 41/7–8); Kölked–Feketekapu B grave No. 336 (Kiss
2001, 115–117, Taf. 75/13).
444 Menghin 1973a, Abb. 33/38; Menghin 1973b, 245–249.
445 Menghin 1983, 150–151.
446 Neuffer-Müller 1983, 23–24.
447 Its reconstruction is based on the grave No. 64 of Bohlingen-Lummold. (Theune 1999, 66,
Abb. 13).
448 Menghin 1983, 150.
449 Menghin 1983, 363. III/a Fundliste (61 finds). Italy: Nocera Umbra (Pasqui – Paribeni 1918,
324, fig. 172); Casteli Calepio (Alfieri et al. 1958, 145, Tav. XVIII/6); Toscana (von Hessen
1975, Tav. 24/13–14).
450 Kiss 1996, 29.
451 2nd type of pyramid-shaped button (Menghin 1983, III/2. Fundliste).