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

(Nandana) #1

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.

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