390 CHAPTER 7
combinations based on these burials when taking into account the symbolic
nature of the weapon burial rite. Besides methodological problems, Avar cem-
eteries are particularly problematic in terms of their degree of publication,
since very few cemeteries have been analysed in terms of horizontal stratig-
raphy, and related anthropological data is also mostly lacking. Only after the
detailed study of all of these factors can any truly reliable interpretations or
conclusions be drawn regarding the probability of weapon burial rites involv-
ing male individuals or their social significance, as well as their relationship
to other artefacts types, such as ornamented belts. The age, body shape and
injuries of the deceased should be considered together with the buried weap-
ons. According to current knowledge, these weapon depositions, like other ele-
ments of the burial rite, are characteristic only of a special, rather small region,
and every community buried their members according to their own particular
customs, and therefore no generally accepted social model can be constructed.
The two weapon types studied in this volume (polearms and edged weap-
ons) represent only a small part of Avar armament and were rare grave goods.
Polearms most likely did not have great social significance judging by their
distribution and the mode of their deposition in burials; however, some
exceptions can be mentioned. Openwork spearheads have a non-functional
attribute, which might refer to some important symbolic meaning. A similar
social significance can be attributed to spearheads that are rarely deposited in
graves, like the hooked spearhead of Devínska Nová Ves, the size and unique-
ness of which gave it a special significance.36
Edged weapons may have had greater social significance, especially as
ostentatious weapons covered with gold or silver can be identified, though
they represent only a small number of Avar-age edged weapons. Their rarity
and the high value of the raw material suggest a relationship to prestige, which
was further enhanced by the applied jeweller’s techniques. The ring-pommel
swords covered by gold or silver (E.I.C/2.b, E.II.B/2.b) could have been very
precious at the time of their deposition, however, regardless of their high value
determining the social position of the deceased on the basis of these weapons
is problematic, since it was the burying community itself that decided what
could be buried in the grave and what should be omitted.
The concentration of swords covered with gold foil in the Danube-Tisza
interfluve is of particular significance, since the swords covered with silver or
copper alloy plates surround their distribution area (Map 55). This kind of dis-
tribution probably refers to a central place of power.
36 Bratislava–Devinska Nová Ves grave No. 524 (Eisner 1952, 119–120, Obr. 71/1).