318 CHAPTER 6
the reverse which is clear evidence for its Byzantine origin.83 This feature led
Oleksij Komar to classify this sword amongst elements of Byzantine manufac-
ture in the Barbarian style from the Pereshchepina hoard.84 A characteristic
feature of the Pereshchepina sword is that its surface is wholly covered with
gold, unlike the Avar examples, where gold covering is only applied in strips,
with the technical features of this Eastern European weapon being finer than
those of the Avar examples.
The ring-pommel swords from the Avar settlement area belong chronologi-
cally to the Pereshchepina horizon (second third of the 7th century). Recent
research, typified by Oleksij Komar, has linked this hoard to the Khazar expan-
sion and emphasised its Central Asian contacts.85
In my opinion this type was an ostentatious weapon in the Carpathian
Basin, and the Greek letters on the back of the gold foils of the Pereshchepina
sword are of considerable importance in respect of its origins. These swords
(together with belt-sets composed of pseudo-buckles) were probably pro-
duced by Byzantine craftsmen, though in a style entirely barbarian. Our cur-
rent knowledge is not sufficient for deciding on the existence of Far Eastern
contacts. However, it is important to note that even in the case of such Far
Eastern connections, the Inner Asian origin cannot be proven, and eastern
influences could have reached the Avars without migration. A possible solu-
tion would be their Byzantine manufacture, copying Far Eastern originals
which reached Europe through the Silk Road.
1.4 Sabres
1.4.1 Questions in the Research of Sabres
The research on sabres is coeval with the study of Nomadic weapons. The ori-
gin of the sabre is one of the main questions of Eastern European research,
which originally held them to be of Inner Asian origin.86 The appearance of
sabres in the Carpathian Basin was first interpreted as evidence for migration
by a new ethnic group. József Hampel already regarded the appearance of the
‘single-edged cavalry sword’ as a result of migration of a Nomadic group from
the East.87
83 Werner 1984a, 26.
84 Komar 2006, 38.
85 Komar 2006, 230–240.
86 Hampel 1897, 45; Zakharov – Arendt 1935, 49–66.
87 József Hampel (1897, 45) described the sabres from Kiskassa, Tiszaeszlár, Kecskemét-
Miklóstelep, Kecskemét-Nyíri erdő and grave No. 54 of Csúny. ‘Schon früher hatten die