12 CHAPTER 1
loops, crossguards and decorations), while their primary (functional) attribute
(the blade) was of secondary importance.50
This approach is clearly evident in the study of Early Avar period (c. 568–
650) edged weapons which early research tended to distinguish types based on
their suspension loops. Two types were distinguished: 1. swords with P-shaped
suspension loops and 2. ring-pommel swords with triple-arched loops. This
system remained unchallenged until the research work by László Simon, only
the terminology changed: Nándor Fettich called the swords with P-shaped
suspension loops the ‘Kul-Oba – Taman’ type’ and ring-pommel swords the
‘Kunágota – Tiszaújfalu type’,51 while Dezső Csallány, influenced by the new
finds near the city of Szeged, called the same types the ‘Kiszombor – Deszk’
and the ‘Csengele type’ after the sites of these artefacts. According to Csallány,
these types have chronological significance, with the ‘Kiszombor – Deszk type’
being earlier,52 whereas they were interpreted as differences of ethnic origin
by István Bóna.53 The Eurasian distribution of both suspension loop types was
examined by Csanád Bálint, whose study revealed that this form of suspension
was not only known from the steppes but they were also used in several early
medieval settled civilisations.54
The crossguards played a similar role in research on sabres, evident in the
second half of the Avar Age. This tradition followed the early classification of
Nándor Fettich,55 and was elaborated on by Éva Garam in her study of sabres
50 The main reason for the emphasis on this method was that these decorative elements of
weapons were subjects of quicker changes than functional elements, as a result of which
they are more suitable for revealing chronological differences.
51 Fettich 1926a, 166–171; Fettich 1926b, 1–14. This classification is in principle the same as the
traditional division into P-shaped suspension loops and triple-arched suspension loops
which is usually held to be the invention of Dezső Csallány (1939, 139–140). This classifica-
tion is still valid but only for the suspension of the swords.
52 According to Csallány the swords with P-shaped suspension loops (called by him
Kiszombor – Deszk type) are dated to an earlier period than the ring-pommel swords
with triple-arched loops (Csengele type) (Csallány 1939, 134–141).
53 István Bóna identified the ring-pommel swords as of Far Eastern or Inner Asian origin,
while he considered the swords with P-shaped suspension loops as the Central Asian
(Hephtalite) component of the Avar weaponry (Bóna 1980, 51–52; Bóna 1984, 310–311)
after the work by Csanád Bálint (1978, 206). László Simon accepted this position on the
basis of Bóna (Simon 1991, 273). These Inner and Central Asian components of the Avars
will be discussed in the chapter on ethnic interpretation.
54 Csanád Bálint (1993, 269–270, Fundliste 8) completed the list with new pieces from Éva
Garam (1990, 253–272) and A.K. Ambroz (1986b), but did not make any typological dis-
tinctions between suspension loops.
55 The term ‘star-shaped crossguard’ was first used by Nándor Fettich (1926).