320 CHAPTER 6
These observations led to a notable change in the nature of research on
sabres: instead of focussing on migration theories and attributing the appear-
ance of new types to the arrival of a new population, the main concern of
the study of sabres became more descriptive. Csanád Bálint observed a false
edge on the straight bladed edged weapon of Üch Tepe which he dated to the
6th century. He regarded the false edge as the main attribute of these sabres,
and presumed the general appearance of ‘proto-sabres’ already during the
Early phase.99
The edged weapons of the Middle and Late phase were studied by Éva
Garam in detail with the publication of the burials at Tiszakécske–Óbög. The
main attribute used was the crossguard, according to Garam the star-shaped
(rhombic) crossguards were influenced by the cast bronze Byzantine cross-
guards. She identified a number of influences in the development of the sabre:
Central Asian Nomads, Sogdia, Türk Qaganate, the Alans and Onogurs. She
emphasised the use of sabres by light cavalry units, suggesting this weapon
type was used by the Byzantines.100
The study of these sabres and their origin was of particular interest in Soviet-
Russian archaeology. An early contribution to the study of Eastern European
sabres was that of Zakharov and Arendt who suggested an Inner Asian origin
for the sabre.101 This was followed by Korzukhina in the 1950s on the evolution
and chronology of sabres, which she divided into two chronological groups:
1. the 7th–9th century early examples and 2. the 10th–11th century, late examples.102
The study of Merpert was of particular significance in the research of
sabres: he classified crossguards, and suggested an Eastern European origin for
them, based on the light cavalry swords of the Sarmatians.103 A problem with
this theory is that the swords used for comparison are double-edged and the
chronological gap between them and the sabres is significantly long, at more
than 200 years.
Svetlana Pletneva was the first to utilise the curve of the blade as a primary
attribute in the classification of Late Nomadic (12th–13th centuries) sabres.104
Her method was followed by Kochkarov in his monograph on early medieval
99 Bálint 1992, 338–342; Bálint 1995a, 65–67.
100 Garam 1991a, 142–160.
101 Zakharov – Arendt 1935, 49–66.
102 Korzukhina already used the term ‘sabre-sword’ for a hybrid, transitional weapon show-
ing attributes of both the sword and sabre (Korzukhina 1950, 63–89).
103 Two types of crossguard were distinguished on Khazar sabres: 1. straight crossguard with
tapering ends; 2. straight crossguards with expanding ends. (Merpert 1955, 136).
104 Pletneva 1973, 17–19.