46 CHAPTER 1
Sub-types were created by the presence (1) or absence (2) of the crossguard.
Some edged weapons of the Early Avar period can be divided on the basis
of the metal sheets decorating the scabbard into ornamented (a) or non-
ornamented (b) examples.
The various aspects of the edged weapons (decoration of the hilt, cross-
guard, suspension loop and decoration of scabbard) are classified separately.
As a result of the classification, alphanumerical codes identify the type of
the weapon composed of a first capital letter which denotes the category of
weapon (‘E’ for edged weapon), followed by a second Latin number for the
blade type, after that a capital letter for the sub-type of the blade, then an
Arabic letter showing the existence of the crossguard, and finally a small letter
present if the sword was ornamented or not.
In all classification of iron artefacts several exceptions and transitional types
tend to occur, all of which were attempted to incorporate the above described
system, as a result reed-shaped broad shouldered (P.I.D) polearms, javelins
(P.V), single-edged swords with false edge (E.II.C) can be regarded as transi-
tional types of small number of specimens, while a variant of broad seaxes
(‘Breitsax’) only distributed around Komárno is a transition towards long
seaxes.
3.2 Technology
All of the examined weapons were made of iron or steel, therefore the physical
attributes of the iron and the process of manufacture are of crucial importance
for the present work. Several methods are available for examining the physical
features and manufacturing techniques of weapons, and their overview can
make a significant contribution in evaluating early medieval weapons.
The iron (ferrum, Fe) is a metal of silvery colour, its atomic number is 29, it
is placed in the 8th group of the Periodic table, its atomic weigth is 55.85, its
hardness is 3.5–4.3 by the Mohs-scale,181 its melting point being 1529°C and it
has magnetic characteristics.182 The metal ores of the iron are mostly oxydes,
181 The Mohs scale of mineral hardness measures the resistence of various minerals against
scratching by a harder material. This 10 level scale is named after the Austrian mineralo-
gist, Carl Friedrich Christian Mohs (1773–1839). Two other methods for measuring hard-
ness are known besides the Mohs scale: these are the indentation hardness and rebound
hardness, for the weapons studied the indentation hardness is the most important
(http://www.kemenysegmero.hu/). The hardness of steel is not a constant value, depend-
ing instead on its carbon content and the quality of its sctructure. (Pleiner 1967, 78).
182 Pleiner 2006, 18.