Origins And Cultural Contacts 331
the blade.188 The crossguard on the sword was forged of iron but covered with
a layer of copper. The crossguard has a small hilt-tube, and the ends of these
projections hilt are not composed of discs. An important difference is the cross
section of the pommel and the hilt-tube, since it is circular and not octagonal,
as in the Čierný Brod weapon.189 The scabbard of the sword was made of beech
wood covered with leather,190 and was reinforced by a locket and a U-shaped
chape made of iron plate.191 Szőke interpreted the presence of such a sword of
southeastern origin with the appearance of new ethnic groups arriving from
the Balkans (Timočans and Abodrits = Praedenecenti) who had escaped from
the Bulgars.192
Later, during the 10th century, D-shaped copper alloy crossguards were used,
as in the case of the Kunágota sword.193 A similar crossguard and pommel cast
of copper alloy is known from the 10th century Fatimid in Egypt, decorated
with an Arabic inscription (a Quran citation).194 A double-edged sword with
D-shaped crossguard cast of copper alloy was also found on the 11th century
shipwreck of Serçe Limanı.195
The only common feature of the above-listed crossguards being the cast
technique of copper alloy, with their forms being various. Five main types can
be divided among them.
2.2 P-shaped Suspension Loops
P-shaped suspension loops are also known in the Mediterranean from this
period: three such finds are known from Italy. P-shaped suspension loops
appear on the ostentatious knives of Castel Trosino and Nocera Umbra,196
while a sword with P-shaped suspension loops made of silver foils was found in
southern Italy.197 Only one Byzantine representation of a P-shaped suspension
188 Szőke 1992a, 93.
189 Szőke 1992a, 504; Taf. 20.
190 Fagus Silvatica: identification of Károly Babos. See: Szőke 1992a, 233.
191 Szőke 1992a, 233–234. Taf. 20.
192 Szőke 1992a, 95.
193 Kiss 1987a, 200–201.
194 Nicolle 1992, 318. 5. kép.
195 Nicolle 1992, 306; Schwarzer 2004, 366. fig. 21–4. A similar find is known from Saudi Arabia,
from the site of al-Rabadha.
196 The manufacture and shape of these artefacts is different from the P-shaped suspension
loops of the Carpathian Basin and the Eastern European steppes, since both of these arte-
facts are decorated by openwork technique (opus interrasile), the loops are not identical:
the second one is smaller and semicircular (Paroli – Ricci 2005, Tav. 3–4. 228–229).
197 Theisen 2008, 390.