248 CHAPTER 3
as well.304 Various jeweller’s techniques were used on these artefacts: glass and
stone inlay,305 granulation and filigree. All of these crossguards are dated to the
second half of the Early phase.306
Short crossguards with rounded ends (CG.4, fig. 92) are cast of copper alloy
or hammered of iron, and were first identified as Byzantine after the example
from Corinth307 by Attila Kiss who considered similar crossguards cast of cop-
per alloy as also being Byzantine.308 Following this, Éva Garam also considered
similar crossguards to be of Byzantine origin.309 However, in a more recent
study of Avar-age artefacts of Byzantine origin she considered only those cross-
guards cast of copper alloy to be Byzantine.310
Type ‘CG.4’311 was termed ‘Byzantine type’ by Éva Garam,312 though this
name is problematic for a number of reasons: based on the known analogies
for this type the original Byzantine examples were cast of copper alloy and only
some (two variants) are formal equivalents of Byzantine crossguards.313 The
copper alloy casting as an attribute for Byzantine origin is questionable, and
whilst their extreme scarcity might appear to verify their origin as Byzantine
similar iron crossguards are not rare among Avar edged weapons (map 42).
Crossguards cast of copper alloy with rhombic central part and fan-shaped
ends (CG.4.a) are only known from double-edged swords of lenticular cross
section (fig. 92/1). Only two examples are known from the Carpathian Basin
as exact analogies for the Corinthian sword:314 the swords from grave No. 85
137–138, Taf. 4–5); Kunszentmiklós–Bábony grave No. 1 (H. Tóth – Horváth 1992, 32–34, Taf.
V–VIII); Nagykőrös–Szurdok (Simon 1983, 9–43, 6–20. kép, II–VII. t.; Simon 1991, 302–303,
- kép 2, 15. kép 6, 17. kép 2, 23. kép).
304 Csengele–Jójárt grave No. 1 (Csallány 1939, 9–11, I. tábla 3–3a; II. tábla; Simon 1991, 290, 15.
kép 8); Szegvár–Oromdűlő grave No. 335, 540 and 903.
305 Bócsa: garnet inlay with cloisonné-technique (Heinrich-Tamáska 2006a, 98–99, for the
technique: Heinrich-Tamáska 2006a, 30–31); Kunbábony: green glass inlay (Heinrich-
Tamáska 2006a, 144–145); Nagykőrös: green glass inlay (Heinrich-Tamáska 2006a, 152–153).
306 For crossguards type 1–3 see map 40, fig. 92.
307 Davidson-Weinberg 1974, 520.
308 Kiss 1987a, 194–210.
309 Garam 1991a, 142.
310 Garam 2001, 158–159.
311 For their list see map 41, fig. 93.
312 Garam 1991a, 142–143.
313 Aradac–Mečka grave No. 85 (Nađ 1959, 62, Tab. XXVII/1; Dimitrijević – Kovačević – Vinski
1962, 11; Kiss 1987, 196, Abb. 2, 203–204); Kölked–Feketekapu A grave No. 259 (Kiss 1996,
75–76, Taf. 57).
314 Davidson-Weinberg 1974, 520.
