196 CHAPTER 3
The cross section of the blade is an important attribute, although it is rarely
uniform and differs according to the various types of weapon blade. A triangu-
lar cross section is usual on the seaxes and single-edged swords, and a pentago-
nal cross section was used for sabre blades.
Sabres are thus edged weapons with curved, single-edged blade, false edge
and of pentagonal or triangular cross section. The hilt and the crossguard are
only secondary attributes, and have been classified separately.
1.3.3 Types of Sabre Blades
Sabre blades can be classified using attributes like its form, measurements,
curvature, length of false edge and the form of hilt. The study of the blade
form is particularly limited by corrosion and various methods of conservation
preserving wooden scabbard corroded onto the blade. Despite this, based on
its form two groups can be distinguished: a narrowing blade and a blade with
parallel sides, while in some cases the sabre blade can widen at the false edge.
The correspondence between the length and curvature as a typological
development was suggested by Pletneva139 and Kochkarov,140 although the
cited examples suggest a slow, gradual development, whereas the history of
sabres during the Avar Age is of much shorter period. The blade width could
also be an important attribute for further classification: the sabres known
from the Saltovo cemeteries have a relatively wide blade (average 3.5 cm),
while the Avar sabre blades are usually narrower.
In what follows, sabre blades will be classified based on their curvature
using the quotient of the height of the segment and the length of the straight
line of the segment, as described above, their limits determined by an even dis-
tribution: 1.5% is the border between slightly curved and curved blades, 2.5% is
curved and strongly curved blades. The curvature of the blade could be deter-
mined in 58 cases, its average being 1.85%.
Altogether 136 sabres with curved blades are known from the Avar Age, most of
them being dated to the Middle (79 examples) and Late phases (50 examples).
Only six examples are dated to the Early phase (maps 33–35). In 45 cases the
curvature of the blade could not be measured, thus these blades were not fur-
ther classified. The measurements of the main attributes of these sabre blades,
as well as the curvature, are presented in the table below.
139 Pletneva 1973, 17–19.
140 According to the observations of Umar I. Kochkarov (2008, 25–27) the sabres of the Early
phase (8th century) are shorter and less curved than the later sabres (11th–12th centuries).