Introduction 65
collections of several museums were lost or destroyed,290 and also because of
limited time and travel opportunities.
Some previously published studies and overviews on Avar weaponry were
of great help in establishing a data collection of edged weapons and polearms.
The first such overview of Avar polearms was made by Ilona Kovrig in 1955,291
a general summary of Avar weapons was made in the Master’s thesis of Attila
Kiss from 1962,292 and László Simon surveyed early Avar swords.293 During this
work, archival sources were of considerable use, the notes of János Kalmár
(manuscript) were particularly invaluable because it preserved data from
swords already lost or destroyed during World War II,294 and the notes and
drawings of László Kovács were especially valuable for the study of sabres.295
I am much indebted to József Szentpéteri, whose gathering of information
on Avar weapon burials for his Candidate thesis296 and his cadastre of sites
(ADAM) represents an especially important source of data. During my work all
previously mentioned data was checked and completed if possible.
Altogether 1,189 burials with edged weapons and/or polearms were known
from the Avar-age Carpathian Basin by 2009. The number of close-combat
weapons almost doubled in the last few decades due to intensive excavation
and publication activity.297 József Szentpéteri in 1993 listed only 131 edged
weapons from the Early phase and 182 from the second half of the Avar Age
(Middle and Late phase), while he listed 103 polearms from the Early and 97
from the Middle and Late phase.298 Upon completion of my doctoral thesis in
2009, the total number of edged weapons was found to be: Early phase: 273,
Middle phase: 128 and Late phase: 188 examples. During the last few years this
number has increased further, and now altogether 704 edged weapons are
known from the Avar Age, 315 of which are dated to the Early phase, 162 to
the Middle phase and 188 to the Late phase. The number of polearms known
290 The collections of the Museums of Keszthely and Kecskemét were destroyed during
World War II.
291 Kovrig 1955a, 30–44; Kovrig 1955b, 163–192.
292 Kiss 1962.
293 László Simon finished his thesis in 1986 (Simon 1991), he listed 184 Early phase swords.
294 I am indebted to Dr. László Kovács and Péter Langó for this invaluable souce of
information.
295 For these notes and drawings thanks go to László Kovács.
296 Szentpéteri 1993; Szentpéteri 1994.
297 The huge number of publications are partially due to the new series of Monumenta
Avarorum Archeologica edited by Éva Garam and Tivadar Vida.
298 József Szentpéteri (1993, 216) did not distinguish the Middle and Late phase following a
chronological study of István Bóna (1988, 437–463).