General Conclusions 403
The deposition of polearms and edged weapons in burials does not help in
determining how they were worn, though polearms were usually placed next
to the horse’s head or to the right foot of the deceased, whilst swords were usu-
ally unbuckled and placed next to the left arm of the men, which might suggest
the original wearing position and contradicts their interpretation in terms of
an inverse afterlife.
The study of the chronology of polearms and edged-weapons can offer
interesting comparative results, suggesting a chronological gap between the
western, Merovingian cemeteries and the Eastern European burials. These two
chronological schemes can only be unified with the help of the Avar finds of
the Carpathian Basin.
Methodologically, the chronological meaning or relevance of the appear-
ance of the same artefact type should be discussed further, since chronological
shifts can appear in such cases. The chronological study of Heiko Steuer should
be a warning against using too narrow a chronological scale.14
The Avar-age close-combat weapons were influenced by various cultures
from different directions; however, most of them were native to the Carpathian
Basin. This region lay at the crossroads of Eastern influences from the steppes,
and Mediterranean and western (Merovingian and Early Carolingian) influ-
ences, and was a contact or buffer zone from the beginning of the Neolithic.
Such long-term processes can be observed in internal regional differences,
reflected by the different external contacts of Transdanubia and the Great
Hungarian Plain.
Eastern contacts with the steppes have always been the most intensely
studied since the beginning of Avar archaeology, motivated by the Inner Asian
origin of the Avars. However, these studies were hindered by the huge geo-
graphical distances represented, the small number of Inner Asian finds and
their late date, making impossible the detection of direct links between Inner
Asia and the Carpathian Basin, with only some very general functional ele-
ments proving useful as analogies.
A special aspect of Avar sword studies is the comparison of ring-pom-
mel swords with Far Eastern analogies.15 Some elements of Avar armament,
like ring-pommel swords, stirrups with long rectangular loops, and lamellar
armour can be find in Eastern Asia, though with some significant technological
14 Steuer 1998, 129–149.
15 Bóna 1980, 51.