218 CHAPTER 3
Research on seaxes started relatively late in the Carpathian Basin. Seaxes in
Avar cemeteries were first identified by Ján Eisner,178 and Attila Kiss described
seaxes from Avar cemeteries in his unpublished MA thesis, where he linked
their appearance to a Carolingian weapon trade.179
Research on this weapon type has mainly been limited to the northern and
western periphery of that area occupied by the Avar Qaganate, partly because
the main distribution of these weapons overlaps in this area. The first summary
of these seaxes was by Jozef Zábojník, in his survey of weapons of western
origin in Avar burials.180 Long knives found in Avar burials in the Carpathian
Basin were also studied by János Győző Szabó who regarded them as weapons,
though he rejected any relationship to seaxes.181
Erik Szameit studied seaxes from Avar-age burials in his paper on Carolingian
weapons from Austria. He described their main distribution as in the Vienna
Basin and dated them to the second half of the 7th and the 8th century.
178 Eisner 1932, 553–559.
179 Kiss listed 12 examples. He regarded the appearance of seaxes as a Late Avar phenomenon
in the 8th century. He observed their distribution in the western part of the Carpathian
Basin. (Kiss 1962, 90–92).
180 Zábojník 1978, 193–195.
181 Szabó 1966, 50; Szabó 1968, 40).Site No.PublicationExcavation
report
Anthr.
dataGrave
goodsPreservation Place in
graveMetallogr.Vösendorf 1 X
Wien XI. Simmering,
Csokorgasse6 X XWien XXIII
Zwölfaxing2 XZáhorská Bystrica 1 X X FragmentaryX
Zalakomár–Lesvári
dűlő
4 XŽelovce 1 X X Good X X
Zillingtal 4 X X Good X X