266 CHAPTER 3
as an analogy for the Avar examples, since the scabbard and suspension loops
of Avar-age edged weapons closely compare with them.426
The suspension of edged weapons changed fundamentally during the Early
Avar period as a consequence of the appearance of two-point suspension,
wherein the sword was suspended from the belt by two loops, sloping at an
angle of some 30–45 degrees (fig. 97 103). This mode of suspension contrasts
significantly with that of one-point suspension where the sword hung verti-
cally. This change is significant not only for the study of historical costume
but also for the influence it had upon the use and even evolution of the sword
itself.
The Avar Age has special significance in the study of these problems, since
both the one- and two-point mode of suspension can be found among Avar
edged weapons, and it was the period when two-point suspension appeared
and spread across Europe. Most of the known Avar suspension loops have
been found in burials,427 and therefore they present an excellent basis for the
elaboration of their chronology.
3.1 One-point Suspension
Vertical one-point suspension meant that the sword could continuously
change position and could easily hinder the wearer in his movements.428 This
mode of suspension also made the pulling of the sword difficult which could
have been a disadvantage during a battle. The most significant advantage of
two-point sloping suspension is that the angle of the sword is constant and
affords little freedom of movement of the weapon, and would not hinder its
wearer in either walking or riding a horse. The sword could be pulled out much
easier and faster which was of significant benefit to a warrior.429
One-point suspension was not only used in Merovingian Central Europe but
was generally applied to double-edged swords of the 5th–6th centuries from
China to Iran and Central Asia. One of their most characteristic forms is the so-
called ‘scabbard-slide’ which can be made of precious stone, iron, copper alloy
426 For the classification of suspension loops, see chapter III.3.d.
427 According to my current knowledge, P-shaped suspension loops were found in 45 Avar
age burials, and only 35 swords with P-shaped suspension loops are known outside of the
Carpathian Basin, including representations.
428 For the list of one-point suspension, see map 47, fig. 98 96.
429 For the changes in sword suspension, see Nickel 1973, 131–142; Trousdale 1975; Ambroz
1986a; Ambroz 1986b; Overlaet 1993, 93–94; Baumeister 1998; Koch 1998a; Koch 1998b;
Koch 2006; Masia 2000.