Avar-Age Polearms and Edged Weapons. Classification, Typology, Chronology and Technology

CHAPTER 5

Chronology—Continuity and Discontinuity

The polearms and edged weapons have been discussed together, from the

beginning of the Avar Age (568) until its end (first half of the 9th century),

so as to examine the development of these weapons from a diachronic point

of view. The chronology of different form-groups, types, subtypes and vari-

ants, was described in the above chapter on the classification of polearms and

edged weapons. This chapter will therefore address more general chronologi-

cal observations. The chronological relationship of the different types, sub-

types and variants are represented in the three chronological tables.

One of the major chronological characteristics of Avar-age polearms and

edged weapons is the apparent lack of definitive boundaries between periods:

several types or variants are dated to the transition between two chronologi-

cal phases, whilst some types were even used throughout the whole Avar Age,

from its beginning until its end. It is important to note that some weapons

(mainly their blades) and their fittings were not used for the same timespan,

with blades usually covering a longer timespan, whilst their decoration can be

dated to shorter periods.

The main difficulty of Avar chronology in general, and in particular the dat-

ing of its characteristic artefact types, is the small number and uneven distri-

bution of coin-dated burial assemblages: all of them are dated to the Early and

Middle phase,1 while no such burial is known from the Late phase which covers

at least 150 years. However, the weapons can often be dated by association with

belt-sets or horse harness which can occur as part of the burial assemblage.

Although the relative chronology of the Avar Age is well developed, significant

shifts are possible in terms of its absolute chronology.

1 Early Avar I. (568–620s)

The beginning of the Avar Age was in many respects a period of significant

change in the Carpathian Basin, such as the appearance of several formerly

unknown artefact types. However, some artefacts that were characteristic of

1 The earliest dated coin found in an Avar burial was the Kunágota find, with a coin of Justinian
(Somogyi 1997, 59–60), and the latest was a solidus of Constantine IV minted between 668
and 673 from Ozora–Tótipuszta (Somogy 1997, 71–72).