Edged Weapons 161
half of the 6th century and still saw burials during the 7th century,15 such
as Vereşmort,16 Noşlac17 and Brateiu 3.18 Only ten spathae were found in
Transylvania (18.86%).
The examples from Transdanubia do not prove continuity, since they
appeared in the second half of the 6th century (demonstrated by tripartite
belt-sets) without local predecessors,19 and therefore the ethnic identification
of these cemeteries is of some question. The use of spathae continued during
the 7th century, the latest of this type being the examples of Tiszafüred (fig.
59/1) which date to the second third of the 7th century.20
The spathae thus played a significant role among the close-combat weapons
of the Early phase, although their use was limited to areas of the Avar Qaganate
settled by Germanic peoples or rather a population related to the Merovingian
culture.
Double-edged swords are extremely rare during the Late phase, and appear
mostly of western origin: their blade is broad, symmetrical and has a fuller
on it (fig. 60). These swords differ from the early spathae, since these exam-
ples from the 8th century always have iron crossguard and pommel. Only four
late spathae are known from the Avar-age Carpathian Basin. A double-edged
sword with a short, straight and wide crossguard and a flat, triangular pommel
made of two pieces, was found in grave No. 124 at Želovce (fig. 60/1).21 A similar
double-edged sword was found in grave No. 3 at Wien–Liesing (fig. 60/2),22 its
crossguard being short and wide, and its pommel flat and triangular.
15 For Transylvanian Gepidic cemeteries: (Kovács 1913; Kovács 1915); their interpretation:
(Bóna 1978, 123–170; Bóna 1986a, 162–164; Horedt 1985, 164–168; Harhoiu 2001, 110–120).
16 Grave No. 5, 13, 16 (Roska 1934, 125, Abb. 4/D; 128, Abb. 4/C; 129, Abb. 4/B).
17 Grave No. 6, 17, 21 and 43 (Rusu 1962, 275).
18 Grave No. 85, 214 and 218 (Nestor – Zaharia 1973, 193–201; Bóna 1986a: 171, 182; Bârzu 1986,
89–104; Bârzu 1991, 211–214; Kiss 1992, 65).
19 According to István Bóna the use of Lombard cemeteries ceased in 568 when the
Lombards left for Italy (Bóna 1984, 309), although much new evidence suggests continuity
of the Lombard population in Pannonia during the second half of the 6th century, like the
golden spatha button of glass inlay from Fenékpuszta–Pusztaszentegyházi-dűlő (Müller
1999/2000, 345) and the Weihmörting type belt-sets of grave No. 34 of Szentendre (Bóna
1974, 122. 62–63; Menghin 1983, 359) and grave No. 65 of Pottenbrunn (Stadler et al. 2003,
- Abb. 3).
20 Éva Garam (1995, 424) dated the beginning of the use of this cemetery to the Early phase,
in the middle of the 7th century.
21 Čilinská 1973, 57, Taf. XXII/16.
22 Mossler 1948, 222.