Introduction 9
(Avar and early Hungarian) weapons was made by Géza Nagy who sum-
marised current understanding of Avar and early Hungarian weapons29 as a
reaction to the manual of weapons and their history by Wendelin Boeheim.30
A significant monograph of three volumes on the archaeological heritage of
the ‘Migration period’31 in the Carpathian Basin was written by József Hampel,
which followed on from Géza Nagy in many respects, but in his classification
and systematisation he was ahead of his time. Hampel’s terminology still influ-
ences research on early medieval archaeology: he was the first who used the
term ‘reed-shaped’ (‘schilfblattförmige’) for Avar-age spearheads, as well as not-
ing the importance of measuring the curvature of the blade on the sabres.32
The number of finds increased significantly after the great synthesis
by Hampel in 1905, resulting in an important survey of Avar-age weapons by
in county Tolna—besides his famous Neolithic and Bronze Age excavations—resulted
in the discovery of three Avar cemeteries (Cikó, Bonyhádvarasd and Regöly) (Bóna
1984b, 9–15; Gaál 2005). The leading archaeologists in Bács-Bodrog county (present day
Vojvodina in Serbia) Lajos Roediger (1903a, Roediger 1903b, Roediger 1905) and Kálmán
Gubitza (1907; Gubitza 1908; Gubitza 1909; Gubitza 1911; Gubitza 1914) were active partici-
pants of the Historical Society of Bács-Bodrog County (Bács-Bodrog Vármegyei Történeti
Társulat). Elek Kada (1896, Kada 1906; Kada 1908) as the mayor and museum founder of
the city undertook important excavations near Kecskemét (Kecskemét–Miklóstelep and
Gátér). Ágost Sőtér (1879–85; Sőtér 1885; Sőtér 1894; Sőtér 1895; Sőtér 1898a; Sőtér 1898b)
as the founder of the ‘Historical and Archaeological Society of Moson County’ (‘Moson
megyei Történelmi és Régészeti Egylet’) excavated Avar cemeteries in Csúny (Čúnovo,
Slovakia) and Nemesvölgy (Edelstal, Austria). The archaeological investigation of the
Migration Period and Early Middle Ages in Transylvania started with the activity of István
Kovács, whose excavations in Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureş, Romania) (Kovács 1915) and
Mezőbánd (Band, Romania) (Kovács 1913) were important not only for Avar archaeology
but also for Gothic (Sîntana de Mureş culture) and Gepidic remains in Transylvania.
29 Géza Nagy studied several aspects of medieval Hungarian weaponry published in three
parts (hitting weapons: Nagy 1890, 115–124; defensive weapons: Nagy 1890, 402–416; stir-
rups: Nagy 1891, 115–124). He interpreted the Late Avar (8th–9th century) assemblages as
‘Huns’ according to contemporary chronological schemes (Nagy 1893, 313–315).
30 Wendelin Boeheim (1890) intended to write a general manual on weaponry from the ear-
liest times until the end of the 18th century; however, he wrote very little on the weaponry
of the steppes and on the weapons of Eastern origin in general.
31 In the Hungarian research tradition the Migration period lasted from the appearance
of the Huns until the formation of the medieval Hungarian state (5th to the 11th cen-
turies AD).
32 József Hampel listed only two dozen spears and eleven swords from the Avar Age (Hampel
1897, 42–55; Hampel 1905, I. 179–182). Despite such limited source material, his observa-
tions remain relevant.