Dieter Quast (ed.)

Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe:Thirteen International Studies on Early Medieval Mobility

MONOGRAPHIENdes Römisch-Germanischen ZentralmuseumsBand 78

Dieter Quast (ed.)

Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 2009

Römisch-Germanisches ZentralmuseumForschungsinstitut für Vor- und Frühgeschichte

FOREIGNERS IN EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE

THIRTEEN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ON EARLY MEDIEVAL MOBILITY

With contributions by

Horst Wolfgang Böhme · Luis A. García Moreno · Karen Høilund Nielsen

Antonel Jepure · Christina Katsougiannopoulou · Michel Kazanski / Patrick Périn

Egge Knol · Anna Lambropoulou · John Ljungkvist · Dieter Quast · Matej Ruttkay

László Schilling · Tivadar Vida

Redaktion: Martin Schönfelder, Dieter Quast, Xandra Bardet (Groningen)Satz: Manfred Albert, RGZM; Michael Braun, Datenshop Wiesbaden Umschlaggestaltung: Grafik RGZM, unter Verwendung einerZeichnung aus W. Froehnes, Les Médaillons de l’Empire Romain(Paris 1878) 259

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation inder Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografischeDaten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.

ISBN 978-3-88467-131-3

ISSN 0171-1474

© 2009 Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums

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INHALTSVERZEICHNIS

V

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII

Dieter Quast

Communication, Migration, Mobility and Trade. Explanatory Models for Exchange Processes

from the Roman Iron Age to the Viking Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

John Ljungkvist

Continental Imports to Scandinavia. Patterns and Changes between AD 400 and 800 . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Karen Høilund Nielsen

The Real Thing or Just Wannabes? Scandinavian-Style Brooches in the fifth and sixth Centuries . . . . . 51

Egge Knol

Anglo-Saxon Migration Reflected in Cemeteries in the Northern Netherlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Horst Wolfgang Böhme

Migrants’ Fortunes: the Integration of Germanic Peoples in Late Antique Gaul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Michel Kazanski, Patrick Périn

»Foreign« Objects in the Merovingian Cemeteries of Northern Gaul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Luis A. García Moreno

Gothic Immigrants in Spain. Researching the History of a Nobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Antonel Jepure

Researching Gothic Immigrants in Spain. An Archaeological Dilemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Anna Lambropoulou

The Presence of Slavs in the Western Peloponnese during the 7th and 8th Centuries:

New Archaeological Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Christina Katsougiannopoulou

The Slavic Bow Brooches in Greece Revisited. Some Remarks on Ethnicity and Social Status . . . . . . . . 219

Tivadar Vida

Local or Foreign Romans? The Problem of the Late Antique Population

of the 6th-7th Centuries AD in Pannonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

László Schilling

An Avar-Period Germanic Brooch from Tác-Fövenypuszta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Matej Ruttkay

The North of the Carpathian Basin in the 5th and 6th Centuries AD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

VI

VII

* K. Kristiansen, Theorising Diffusion and Population Movements. In: C. Renfrew / P. Bahn (eds.), Archaeology. The key concepts (Lon-don 2005) 75-79 esp. 77.

PREFACE

»We need to interpret the past, not simply present it«John H. Arnold

History. A very short introduction (Oxford 2000)

»Moi, tu me connais, je n’ai rien contre les étrangers,mais ces étrangers-là ne sont pas de chez nous.«

Agecanonix in: Astérix, Le cadeau de César

The transition from Antiquity to the Middle Ages was an era of vital importance to the formation of medi -

eval and modern Europe. The migrations of steppe-nomad and Germanic peoples caused changes over

wide parts of Europe. The Western Roman Empire fell apart into »Romano-barbarian kingdoms«. Personal

motives, economic incentives and wars gave rise to unprecedented mobility of individuals as well as whole

tribes, or, more precisely, large warrior groups with their families. Throughout Europe, people of different

origins where brought together and had to find new ways of coexistence. Although in all cases the for -

eigners were a minority – whether in Gaul, on the Iberian Peninsula, in Pannonia or in Italy – it was they

who ruled the new kingdoms. Migration was always followed by the integration and acculturation of the

immigrants or of the indigenous population. The fusion of different cultures into new communities clearly

is not just a phenomenon of the 20th and 21st centuries, but has been going on since prehistory.

During the years 2002-2005, the European Commission’s Directorate General X, under the »Culture 2000«

programme, supported a Europe-wide project named »Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe«, aimed at

realising a database of the relevant archaeological material for the World Wide Web. As a spin-off of the

project, a scientific network was created, and almost all of the ten teams decided to continue their research

on the topic and to participate in a joint publication. This had three reasons: first, the progress made during

the collection of the material for the database and the discussions during the workshops put all colleagues

in touch with fresh ideas and new results, and second, the structure of the database did not allow the elab -

oration of many interesting details. But most important is the third point, which concerns the nature and

interpretation of the archaeological evidence. In the various parts of Europe the archaeological sources

differ considerably, and so it soon became clear that there could be no standard method for defining for -

eigners and their position in society. In each case it was necessary to decide anew how to interpret alien

grave forms and burial customs, foreign burial rites and imported goods. Do the finds really represent for -

eign immigrants, or do they result from other forms of mobility? In some cases it is impossible to identify

foreign individuals, even when it is certain that the archaeological evidence reflects population change.

The articles in this volume highlight different aspects of mobility and exchange, but all of these depend on

contacts between people and groups of people. Studies of straightforward imports, art styles and history

of colonisation or simply new interpretations of »common knowledge« offer new insights. »Knowledge,

objects and ideas do not move by themselves. They are always carried by people. Any study of diffusion

and interaction is therefore confronted with the question: who travelled, for what reason, and how many

were they?*«

It was quite clear from the beginning that archaeologists from different European countries, ranging from

Spain to Slovakia and Greece to Sweden, have quite diverse perspectives and different scientific traditions

VIII

in approaching a theme like »Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe«. This in itself offered an interesting basis

for debate. It is also why the articles in the publication are arranged according to the authors’ places of

origin.

I want to thank all authors for their participation in this publication, which all of them did additionally to

their daytime jobs. In the same context I wish to thank the following persons for translations into English:

Dr. Annette Frey, Mainz (translation of Kazanski / Périn), Dr. Valeria Kulcsár, Budapest (Schilling and Vida),

Jonathan Roth, Mainz (Böhme), Folkert Tiarks, Mainz (Quast). Much more than a simple »thanks« goes to

Xandra Bardet, Groningen, for editing the various strains of »European English« and for her unsparing

constructive criticism. For scans and illustrations I want to thank Michael Ober, Vera Kassühlke, Monika

Weber (all RGZM, Mainz). The publisher’s work was done by Manfred Albert and Michael Braun. They too

deserve many thanks. And, last but not least, special thanks to Martin Schönfelder for his support.

Dieter Quast

Mainz, November 2008

LÁSZLÓ SCHILLING

AN AVAR-PERIOD GERMANIC BROOCH

FROM TÁC-FÖVENYPUSZTA

The Roman settlement of Gorsium/Herculia, situated 6km south of Székesfehérvár, on the bank of the river

Sárvíz, is a site known from the 19th century, where excavations have been conducted continuously since

19581.

Grave 6, containing the brooch in question, was found on July 13th, 1995, in the Avarian cemetery which

comprised 15 burials (fig. 1, 1) 2. The cemetery was situated south of the crossing point of the former main

streets, cardo and decumanus 3. The exact place of the graves is known from the map of the sections

published in a report in 19984. Here W-E-oriented graves could be observed, cutting into the N-S-oriented

Roman road (fig. 1, 2) 5. On the basis of the excavation reports published up till now, it may be suggested

that this grave group belongs to a coherent, relatively large Avarian cemetery situated between the centre

of the Late Roman town and the eastern town wall (fig. 1, 1) 6.

THE FINDS FROM GRAVE 6

Earring

Poorly preserved, fragmentary. It consists of a silver ring and a silver hollow sphere made of two halves. The

ring and the sphere were joined together using the technique of granulation, with three solid silver

globules. The diameter of the ring, round in cross-section, cannot be measured; the diameter of the hollow

sphere is 0.9cm (fig. 3, 1).

261Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe

1 Although the Avarian grave was found on the site of the Romansettlement, in the course of a Roman-Period excavation, the correct name for this findspot to my mind is not Tác-Gorsium, or Gorsium/Herculia, but Tác-Fövenypuszta, because this is the name for the site of the Avarian Age: Szentpéteri 2002, 367.

2 The description of the artefacts is given in the order of their pre -sumable location in the grave. However, in connection with thebrooch it is important to emphasise that brooches from an Avarian milieu are usually found – according to the fashion ofthe age – at the shoulders, on the breast, around the pelvis or ina purse also around the pelvis or at the femurs: Garam 2003,116f. The association of the grave-goods is attested by the find-sheets completed during recovery of the artefacts from thegrave. Due to reasons listed above, we cannot use the recordsmade during the excavation; neither can we ascertain whetherthere are any further finds from this grave somewhere in the stor age rooms. Non-inventoried finds are kept in the storageroom of the Gorsium Régészeti Park, Tác. Here I would like to ac -knowledge the help of Loránd Olivér Kovács (Gorsium RégészetiPark, Tác), who came across the grave finds and drew my atten-tion to them. The drawings of the finds and photos of the beadswere made by Sándor Ősi (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Ré -

gészeti Intézete, Budapest), the photo of the brooch by CsillaTóth (Budapesti Történeti Múzeum), I thank them for their work.

3 Fitz 1997, 58. – Unfortunately, I have not succeeded in findingthe field diary of 1995 or any other records (drawings, photos).– The analysis of the cemeteries is going to be performed in theframework of a PhD thesis (Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem,Történelemtudományi Doktori Iskola, Régészet Program) »Tác/Gor sium from the end of the Roman Age to the end of the Avarian Age«, prepared under the supervision of Tivadar Vida(Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Régészeti Intézete, Budapest).

4 Fitz et al. 1998, 242 fig. 3; 243 fig. 4.5 The excavation of the year 1995 was carried out in the frame-

work of Canadian-Hungarian cooperation, and directed by JánosFedák (University of Prince Edward Island, Department of FineArts, Charlottetown), Jenő Fitz and Zsuzsanna Bánki (Szent Ist-ván Király Múzeum, Székesfehérvár). I would like to thank theex cavators for their permission to publish the finds.

6 Fitz 1960, 161. – Fitz / Bánki 1974, 196. 198-200. – Fitz et al.1963/64, 216; 1978, 169. 172-174; 1979, 191; 1983, 203;1985, 109; 1987, 183; 1994, 335-337; 1998, 242-243, 252. –Fülöp 1987, 243-244. – Recently seven new Avarian graves werefound during the excavation campaign of 2005 (informationkindly provided by Loránd Olivér Kovács).

Fig. 1 1 Roman-period settlementat Tác, Avar-period grave groups(shaded), with the location of grave6 (after the map of Gorsium Régés-zeti Park Database, made by LászlóTóth, 2001). – 2 Graves from theAvar Period, excavated in 1995 (afterFitz et al. 1998, fig. 4).

263Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe

Fig 2 Tác, Grave 6: 1-31 beads. – Scale = 1:1.

String of beads

Thirty-one pieces (29 glass, two amber) 7: Two yellow spherical beads, length (l.): 0.6cm, width (w.): 0.8cm,

diameter of bore (d.): 0.2cm (fig. 2, 1), l.: 0.4cm, w.: 0.7cm, d.: 0.2cm (fig. 2, 2). – Two white, segmented,

subspherical beads, l.: 1.1cm, w.: 0.8cm, d.: 0.3cm, one of the spheres is fragmentary (fig. 2, 3), l.: 0.8cm,

w.: 0.7cm, d.: 0.2-0.3cm (fig. 2, 4). – One white, subspherical eye bead decorated with crossing yellow

wavy lines and light-red eyes, l.: 0.6cm, w.: 1.1cm, d.: 0.5cm (fig. 2, 5). – Three reddish-brown, sub -

spherical eye beads decorated with crossing white wavy lines and white eyes, l.: 1cm, w.: 1.1-1.2cm,

d.: 0.4cm (fig. 2, 6), l.: 0.9cm, w.: 1.1cm, d.: 0.4cm (fig. 2, 7), l.: 0.8cm, w.: 1.1cm, d.: 0.4cm (fig. 2, 8).

264 L. Schilling · An Avar-Period Germanic Brooch from Tác-Fövenypuszta

7 The beads are classified according to Adrien Pásztor’s classification: Pásztor 1996, tab. 2-4.

Fig. 3 Tác, Grave 6: 1 silver earring. – 2 bronze buckle. – 3 iron knife. – Scale = 1:1.

– One black, subspherical eye bead decorated with crossing white wavy lines and white knobs, l.: 0.6cm,

w.: 0.8-0.9cm, d.: 0.3cm, one of the knobs is fragmentary (fig. 2, 9). – One black, subspherical segmented

bead decorated with yellow knobs, l.: 0.8cm, w.: 0.5-0.7cm, d.: 0.2-0.3cm (fig. 2, 10). – Two reddish-

brown, subspherical eye beads decorated with crossing white wavy lines and yellow knobs, l.: 0.5-0.8cm,

w.: 1cm, d.: 0.5cm, fragmentary (fig. 2, 11), l.: 0.7cm, w.: 1cm, d.: 0.3-0.4cm (fig. 2, 12). – One reddish-

brown, subspherical segmented bead decorated with crossing white wavy lines and yellow knobs,

l.: 1.5cm, w.: 1cm, d.: 0.4cm (fig. 2, 13). – One reddish-brown subspherical eye bead decorated with cros-

sing yellow wavy lines and yellow eyes, l.: 0.9cm, w.: 1.1cm, d.: 0.4cm (fig. 2, 14). – Two reddish-brown,

subspherical peacock’s-eye beads decorated with crossing white wavy lines and one of them with green-

on-white knobs, l.: 0.7cm, w.: 1.1-1.3cm, d.: 0.4cm (fig. 2, 15); l.: 0.9-1cm, w.: 1.3cm, d.: 0.3cm, the

other’s knobs broken (fig. 2, 16). – Three black, subspherical peacock’s-eye beads decorated with crossing

white wavy lines and green-on-white knobs, l.: 1cm, w.: 1.4-1.6cm, d.: 0.4cm (fig. 2, 17); l.: 1.1cm,

w.: 1.2-1.5cm, d.: 0.3cm, one of the knobs broken (fig. 2, 18); l.: 1.1cm, w.: 1.1-1.3cm, d.: 0.4cm, knobs

fragmentary (fig. 2, 19). – One reddish-brown, subspherical eye bead decorated with two white lines and

alternating yellow eyes and green knobs, l.: 0.8cm, w.: 1.1-1.2cm, d.: 0.4cm (fig. 2, 20). – Two reddish-

brown, subspherical beads decorated with white X shapes, l.: 0.6cm, w.: 0.8-0.9cm, d.: 0.4cm (fig. 2, 21);

l.: 0.6cm, w.: 0.8cm, d.: 0.2cm (fig. 2, 22). – One black, annular bead decorated with X-shaped white

lines, l.: 0.7cm, w.: 1.5cm, d.: 0.5cm (fig. 2, 23). – One reddish brown, subspherical bead with white spiral

banding and a green wavy line, l.: 0.8cm, w.: 1.1cm, d.: 0.5cm, fragmentary (fig. 2, 24). – One black,

tapering segmented bead, l.: 1.3cm, w.: 0.4-0.6cm, d.: 0.2cm (fig. 2, 25). – One light blue, four-sided

bead with faceted ends, l.: 1.6cm, w.: 0.9cm, d.: 0.3cm (fig. 2, 26). – One blue, polyhedral bead with

square cross-section, l.: 0.7cm, w.: 0.6cm, d.: 0.2cm (fig. 2, 27). – One dark blue, prismatic, mosaic glass

bead with a square cross-section, l.: 1.2cm, w.: 0.9cm, d.: 0.3-0.4cm (fig. 2, 28). – One subspherical,

mosaic glass bead, l.: 1cm, w.: 1.2cm, d.: 0.5cm (fig. 2, 29). – Two light brown, disc-shaped amber beads,

l.: 2.4cm, w.: 0.9-2.2cm, d.: 0.2cm (fig. 2, 30), l.: 1.2cm, w.: 0.5-1.2cm, d.: 0.2cm (fig. 2, 31).

Proto-animal-head brooch

The brooch8 was moulded of bronze, gilded and decorated with a punched design and a glass inlay. There

is a crosspiece on the head of the brooch, which covers the iron spring holder and ends in two knob termi-

nals 9. At the apex of the two knobs the hammered endings of the iron spring holder can be faintly recog-

nised. The crosspiece is separated into two parts by a central animal head. The eyes and the nose are

marked out by chiselling. Around the eyes and at the neck, circular punched ornament can be seen, in one

and two lines, respectively. The surfaces between the knobs of the crosspiece and the animal head are

roughly symmetrical; however, the ornamentation is not identical. Fields divided by circular punched orna-

265Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe

8 The Swedish name for the brooch type is: protodjurhuvud-spänne (proto-animal-head brooch): http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/resultat_bild.asp?landskap=&searchtext=protodjurhuvudsp%E4nne&qmode=1&search=1&sm=0_7&qtype=bild&orderby=datum_&sort=DESC (10.9.2008); in the English literature it is called crab brooch/animal-head brooch: Høilund Nielsen 1999,178 fig. 10, 27 and 192, fig. 10, 39 or proto-animal-headbrooch: Rundkvist 2003, 19; in German literature: Tierkopfähn-

liche Fibel (animal-head-like brooch): Nerman 1975, 9. – In thepresent study I follow the Swedish terminus technicus. I am grate ful to Kent Andersson and John Ljungkvist (both at thattime Statens Historiska Museer, Stockholm) for their help in de -termining the type of the brooch. I am also grateful to Éva Som-lósi (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Régészeti Intézete, Buda-pest) for the restoration of the brooch.

9 The axis originally served as a so-called spring-holder.

ment in an X arrangement are filled with double semicircular, punched motifs. Towards the knobs, this X

pattern is closed with a row of circular punches. On the bow, behind the animal head, in an almost trape-

zoid area, a design similar to that on the crosspiece is repeated. Here the sides of the bow are edged by

two ribs. Between the ribs, we see a simple, transverse punched ornament reminiscent of a kymation. The

bow and the axis of the brooch are connected by curved arms joining up with the ends of the crosspiece.

The edges of the curved arms are marked with deep grooves, along the inner edge of which are rows of

double semicircles, one row on one arm, and two rows on the other. On the most elevated part of the bow,

we find a light green, glass inlay in a rectangular setting. Under the glass inlay, traces of gilding can be

observed. The bow is trapezoid towards the foot; this area too is divided into four fields by an X shape

executed in circular punches10. These fields are filled with rows of double semicircular punches. Circular

punches frame the trapezoid along the sides and along the inlay. The foot of the brooch is almost square

in shape. This surface too is divided by an X shape of punched circular motifs. The four fields thus formed

are filled with double semicircular punches. The triangular field situated farthest from the bow is closed by

a row of circular punches.

The back of the brooch is rough and unadorned, not gilded except for the terminals at the ends of the axis-

holder. The animal head is hollow; on the longitudinal axis of the brooch we see an eye cast in one piece

with the body of the brooch. The iron axis belonging to the fastening system passes through this eye –

inside the animal head. The iron pin of the brooch was wound around this iron axis. The now fragmentary

pin of the brooch once fell into a J-shaped catchplate at the back of the foot.

The brooch is 4.2cm wide, and 5.9cm long. The rectangular setting on the bow is 0.9× 0.5cm. The present

length of the fragmentary iron pin is 3.1cm; originally it must have been around 5cm long (fig. 4, 1; 5, 3) 11.

266 L. Schilling · An Avar-Period Germanic Brooch from Tác-Fövenypuszta

10 At one point, the line of punching went off-course and appearsto have been corrected from the opposite direction.

11 I thank Margit Nagy (Budapesti Történeti Múzeum) who helpedme to make the technical description of the brooch.

Fig. 4 Tác, Grave 6: proto-animal-head brooch. – Scale = 1:1.

Buckle

Oval, cast bronze buckle, decorated with rectangular punches on either side of the hinge, and on either

side of the prong-tip support. The prong is made of iron, it is corroded and fragmentary. The lower part

and the prong’s axis are very worn. This suggests that the belt belonging to the buckle was used for a long

time and opened towards the left 12. The maximum interior diameter of the oval is 3.5cm, so the width of

the leather belt must have been the same or smaller. The size of the buckle ring is 5× 2.8cm; the length of

the prong in its present state is 2.5cm (fig. 3, 2).

Iron knife

On one of its sides, remains of the wooden sheath, on the other side remains of the wooden handle were

preserved. L.: 12.3cm, w.: 2.3cm, length of the blade: 10.3cm (fig. 3, 3).

DISCUSSION

Among the finds two fragmentary human bones were also found: a rib and fragments of the distal end of

the left fibula. The latter, given the degree of ossification, belonged to an adult person 13; judging from the

grave-goods, the bones were those of a woman.

The hollow-globe pendant earring characterises the earliest Avarian cemeteries14. On the basis of coin-

dated graves, Éva Garam connected this type of ornament with the first and second generation of Avarian

immigrants15. In her opinion such earrings were worn mainly in the first third of the 7th century16. Attila

Kiss, also on the basis of graves with coins, dated this earring type to the first quarter or first half of the 7th

century17. Ilona Kovrig considered the silver and bronze hollow-globe pendant earrings to be later versions

of gold ornaments and dated them to the mid 7th century18.

According to Adrien Pásztor’s analysis based on the material from graves with coins, the bead types of

grave 6 were in use from the last third of the 6th up to the late 7th century. Some types were current even

in the first half of the 8th century19.

The distribution of the proto-animal-head brooch type is the region between Denmark and Finland, where

it was the characteristic female ornament of the Vendel Age (AD 550-800). Its origin goes back to the

crossbow brooches of the Roman Period. A piece similar to the brooch from grave 6 of Tác-Fövenypuszta

is known from Lau Backar (Gotland, Sweden), dating from period VII 1 of the Vendel Age (AD 550-600).

From the point of view of construction, the Gotland brooch consists of two separate parts: one comprises

the bow and the foot, the other consists of the crosspiece of the head with the arms which was cast as a

267Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe

12 The direction of opening of the waist-belt can in some cases bededuced from the buckle’s position in the grave: Nagy 2004,147. 159.

13 I thank Kitti Köhler (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia RégészetiIntézete, Budapest), who determined the human bones.

14 Garam 1972, 180.15 Garam 1992, 149.16 Garam 1993, 24.17 Kiss 1996, 193.

18 Kovrig 1963, 136f., however, in the Alattyán cemetery we donot encounter the hollow-globe pendant earring type in whichthe ring and globe are connected by granulation.

19 Pásztor 1995, 72-80, 87 tab. 1, 89, chart 2. – Attila Kiss con-nect ed the amber beads of Kölked-Feketekapu A cemetery withthe first generation: Kiss 1996, 197; then later he wrote: »amberbeads are rare in the Early Avarian Age, their fashion goes backto the Gepidian Age«: Kiss 2001, 269.

separate piece. The design imitating the spiral on the crosspiece with its knob terminals here appears only

as a decorative motif. Similarly to the Tác find, the arms, the bow and the foot are decorated with moulded

ribs and double semi-circular punched motifs. The bow is arched and convex; the foot of the brooch is

narrow and long (fig. 5, 1)20. Among the northern finds, a unique one is the piece from Sävstaholm

(Södermanland, Sweden). Its oblong shape is even more strongly reminiscent of the brooch from grave 6.

On the crosspiece, which ends in small knobs, we see no trace of a spiral imitation. The body of the brooch

has a trapezoid cross-section, it was cast in one piece with the arms, which branch from the most elevated

part of the brooch. The decoration is chiselled and punched; on the head, on the top of the bow and on

the foot, there are inlays in round settings (fig. 5, 2) 21.

The gilded bronze, proto-animal-head shaped brooch with glass inlay is unique among the find material of

the Carpathian Basin22. However, certain elements of its decoration can be observed on particular objects

of the Early Avarian Age. A distant analogy of the animal head on the head of the brooch comes from

Környe, grave 97, where a much less sophisticated object was found: a plate decorating a damascened iron

sword scabbard, ornamented with bronze animal heads 23. The X-shaped basic motif of the punched deco-

ration can be found also on the shoulder ornament of a hand-made vessel from Várpalota, grave 5. Here

the lower and upper triangles are filled with triangular stabbed decoration24. An example of similarly

arranged decoration comes from Kölked-Feketekapu cemetery A, grave 171, where a wheel-thrown vessel

was ornamented with triangles stamped opposite each other on the shoulder of the pot25. The decoration

268 L. Schilling · An Avar-Period Germanic Brooch from Tác-Fövenypuszta

20 Nerman 1975, 9: the punched decoration disappeared in PeriodVII 2 (600-650). – Corsten 1995, 115f.

21 Åberg 1953, 144. – I do not have information on the material ofthe brooch and its inlays. A very similar brooch from Vallentuna(Stockholm county, Sweden), (acc.no.: SHM 31461) is a gilded(?)silver piece decorated with punched decoration and three red,circular inlays: http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/bild.asp?uid= 912(10.09.2008); I thank John Ljungkvist (formerly Statens Histo -riska Museer, Stockholm) who drew my attention to this find.

22 This brooch type can be categorised in Éva Garam’s Group II,that is to say, the group of »Brooches in use in the Avarian Age«,

but should be placed into an individual subgroup: Garam 2003,95. – From the point of view of its provenance, it fits well intothe already known situation: the majority of brooches used inthe Avarian Age were found in Transdanubia: Garam 2003, 117fig. 17.

23 Salamon / Erdélyi 1971, 23. 55. 93 pl. 15, 31f., 124. pl. VII, 4-5.24 Werner 1962, 152 pl. 15,2 »Langobardian Age«.25 Kiss 1996, 458 pl. 44, A171/1; 574 pl. 160, A171. – Kiss 1996,

255 tab. 13: Stamped decoration in opposing positions is a man-ner of ornamentation already employed by the Gepidians, un -known to the Langobardians, and still used in the Avarian Age.

Fig. 5 1 Lau Backar (Gotland, Sweden; after Nerman 1969, pl. 2,8.). – 2 Sävstaholm (Södermanland, Sweden; after Åberg 1953,fig. 172). – 3 Tác-Fövenypuszta, grave 6 (Kom. Fejér, Hungary). – Scale = 1:1.

of a gold belt terminal from Keszthely-Fenékpuszta, Pusztaszentegyházi dűlő, grave A is also geometrical,

consisting of triangles and squares linked in a figure-of-8 arrangement26.

There are three types of punching on the Tác brooch: that imitating kymation, a circular motif and a double

semicircle. Punching imitating kymation was found exclusively along the edge of the bow, close to the

animal head. Circular and double semicircular punching generally covers a whole surface27. This Mero -

vingian German manner of decoration flourished in the second half of the 6th century28. In Transdanubia

we also find examples of bronze objects being gilded and decorated with glass inlays. These include the

gilded bronze hairpin with light green glass inlay from Környe, grave 8929. Finds from Budapest-Farkasvölgy

– eight round, gilded bronze plates and two small belt terminals, one large belt terminal – were also deco-

rated with light green glass inlays30. This group also includes the gilded bronze ring with glass inlay from

Budakalász-Dunapart, grave 75931.

However, no close Scandinavian analogies of the Tác brooch are known32. Various differences in shape and

decoration, unknown in Scandinavian parallels (arms starting not from the middle part of the bow, flat

cross-section, animal-head decoration, gilding, glass inlay), can be explained with the suggestion – since

we do not see any traces of mending or reshaping – that this is the work of a local goldsmith, who made

this piece according to his own knowledge and/or the taste of the customer. This is a local imitation of a

foreign brooch33, made sometime in the last third of the 6th century or the first third of the 7th century.

There is no certain answer concerning the person of the customer: might it have been a woman of Scan -

dinavian origin34? Or a Scandinavian man who wished to present a gift to a local lady?

The oval bronze buckle with punched decoration goes back to Late Roman forms. The origin of its deco-

ration also is to be sought in this period. In the course of time, the original animal-head decoration35

became stylised into a rectangular line of punched motifs. Parallels to the solid, oval, cast-bronze ring of

the buckle are known from Gepidian and Langobardian graves, but can be found also among Early Avarian

material 36. This version, without decorative plates, survived not only into the Early Avarian Age, but even

into the Middle Avarian Age. It can be found in the eastern part of Transdanubia, in the valley of the river

Mureş in Transylvania and at two further sites, situated on the river Tisza37. However, the earlier variants

are more massive, they have a round cross-section and were not made from thin, plain plates.

Grave 6 from Tác-Fövenypuszta is outstanding from the point of view of the brooch and can be dated to

the last third of the 6th or first half of the 7th century. The owner of the brooch could have been a female

269Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe

26 Müller 1999/2000, 345. 347 fig. 4.2; 348 fig. 5.2; 351-353; inthe filling-in of these fields, with clusters of three, we see a double semicircular punched decoration similar to that on theTác brooch.

27 All three types are also found among the decoration on the ani-mal-head brooches from Gotland: Corsten 1995, 116. – Thethird type, that of double semicircular punched decoration, wasgenerally used between the 2nd/3rd and 6th/7th century: Corsten1995, tab. 19. It was widespread on the Scandinavian mainland,on the islands of the Baltic Sea, in Bornholm and Gotland, on thecontinent in southern Germany, but also in the CarpathianBasin: Corsten 1995, 147 map 56; and Müller 1999/2000, 351-353: on the occurrence of decoration on Gepidian and Lango -bardian objects.

28 Corsten 1995, 174. 29 Salamon / Erdélyi 1971, 22. 40. 92 pl. 14, 24. 128, pl. XI. 12,

146, pl. XXIX. 1.30 Nagy 1998, 97f., 91. pl. 83. A4-8. 13-15.31 Pásztor / Vida 1991, 242f.: two lateral, triangular glass inlays on

the ring are colourless; nothing is said about the middle, round

inlay. A further characteristic feature of the gilded bronze objectswith glass inlay is the chip-carved design, the triple dentateornament and German Animal Style II.

32 A distant analogy of the find may be an equal-armed broochfrom Carnuntum, dated to the second half of the 6th century.This Scandinavian brooch must have reached this region to -gether with its owner, as a female ornament, and attests tosome northern contacts in this period: Fitz 1981, 82. 51-54.

33 I thank Jörg Kleeman (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Lehrstuhlfür Ur- und Frühgeschichte) for his useful advice, helping me toarrive at the interpretation.

34 This hypothesis may yet be supported by a detailed analysis ofthe anthropological material from the grave.

35 Sommer 1984, 24-32 sort 1, form C, type d-g, pl. 4-12: withtwo or four animal-head motifs on the hinge part of the bucklering.

36 Garam 1972, 172.37 Kiss 1996, 203f. 310f.: Liste 8. Early Avarian oval iron and

bronze buckles without belt-plates from 21 sites.

Grave goods:

1. coloured glass beads (10 pieces) scattered around the neck

2. gilded bronze brooch on the left side of the spine, immediately above the waist

3. a bronze buckle was discovered when lifting the grave (secondary position)

On the basis of the drawing depicting the grave, further wood prints were noticed by the excavators

around the right upper arm.

Earring: position unknown, most likely it was found when picking up the skull, around the head

Beads: position and order is unknown, 21 pieces of them. Probably they were discovered under the head

and around the neck. In the drawing only five are marked.

Iron knife: on the basis of the excavation photograph of the grave it was placed between the left hand’s

fingers and the left femur.

270 L. Schilling · An Avar-Period Germanic Brooch from Tác-Fövenypuszta

38 Arrhenius 1983, 45-63.

Fig. 6 Tác, Grave 6.

member of a community that had northern Germanic, Scandinavian

connections of some kind. The origin of these bilateral relations must be

sought in the period directly preceding the Avarian Age38.

SUPPLEMENT

After the manuscript was closed, the excavation record of grave 6, un -

earthed in 1995, has been found in the Gorsium Régészeti Park office –

the building is now being vacated. The drawing (fig. 6) and the photo-

graph were found by Zsuzsanna Bánki who kindly handed them over to

me. In the light of the newly found documents the description of the

grave has to be altered and completed as follows:

Gorsium, the so-called Cardo-Maximus cemetery, section 200/275 b,

grave 6, burial in coffin, the traces of wood could be detected around the

left elbow, above the left side of the pelvis and next to the left shin. Parti-

ally disturbed, extended skeleton of a woman with arms following the line

of the body. Condition of the skeleton: poor. Orientation: 52°5’. Depth: 6

spades.

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Arrhenius 1983: B. Arrhenius, The chronology of the Vendel graves. In: J. P. Lamm / H. Å. Nordström (eds.), Vendel PeriodStudies (Stockholm 1983) 39-70.

Corsten 1995: M. Corsten, Die stempelverzierte Metallgegen-stände der Merowingerzeit (München 1995).

Fitz 1960: J. Fitz, Gorsium. Első jelentés a táci római település fel-tárásáról, 1958/59 [Gorsium. Erster Bericht über die Ausgrabun-gen der römischen Siedlung bei Tác, 1958/59]. Alba Regia 1,1960, 154-164.

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1998: J. Fitz / J. Fedák / V. Lányi / Zs. Bánki, Forschungen in Gor-sium in den Jahren 1990-1997. Alba Regia 27, 1998, 237-309.

Fülöp 1987: G. Fülöp, Újabb bizánci éremlelet Tácról. Alba Regia23, 1987, 243-244.

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1993: É. Garam, Katalog der Awarenzeitlichen Goldgegenstän -de und der Fundstücke aus den Fürstengräber im UngarischenNationalmuseum. Catalogi Musei Nationalis Hungarici. Seria Ar -chaeologica I (Budapest 1993).

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Høilund Nielsen 1999: K. Høilund Nielsen, Female grave goods ofsouthern and eastern Scandinavia from the Late Germanic IronAge or Vendel Period. In: J. Hines / K. Høilund Nielsen / F. Sieg-mund (eds), The Pace of Change. Studies in Early-MedievalChronology. Oxford 1999, 160-194.

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271Foreigners in Early Medieval Europe

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

295List of Contributors

Horst Wolfgang Böhme Sankt-Sebastian-Str. 1E55128 Mainz

Luis García MorenoReal Academia de la HistoriaC/del Léon 21E - 28014 Madridluis.garcia@uah.es

Karen Høilund NielsenAarhus UniversitetAfd. for Forhistorisk ArkæologiMoesgårdDK - 8270 Høibjergkaren.hoilund.nielsen@gmail.com

Antonel Jepurec/Doctor Fleming, 44-218E - 28036 Madridantonel_jepure@yahoo.de

Christina KatsougiannopoulouDepartment of ArtUniversity of Toronto100 St George StreetCDN - Toronto, ON M5S3G3bjoernewald@aol.com

Michel KazanskiCNRS, Monde byzantinCollège de France52, rue du Cardinal LemoineF - 75231 Paris cedex 05michel.Kazanski@wanadoo.fr

Egge KnolGroninger MuseumPostbus 90NL - 9700 ME Groningeneknol@groningermuseum.nl

Anna LambropoulouInstitute for Byzantine ResearchN.H.R.F. 48 Vassileos Constantinou Av.GR - 116 35 Athensanna_lampropoulou@yahoo.gr

John LjungkvistInstitutionen för arkeologi och antik historiaBox 626S - 75126 Uppsalajohn.ljungkvist@arkeologi.uu.se

Patrick PérinMusée d’Archéologie NationaleChâteau – Place Charles de GaulleF - 78105 Saint-Germain-en-Laye cedexpatrick.perin@culture.gouv.fr

Dieter QuastRömisch-Germanisches ZentralmuseumForschungsinstitut für Vor- und FrühgeschichteErnst-Ludwig-Platz 255116 Mainzquast@rgzm.de

Matej RuttkayArcheologický ÚSTAV Slovenská Akadémia ViedAkademicka 2SK - 94901 Nitramatej.ruttkay@savba.sk

László SchillingVízimolnár u. 10. H - 1031 Budapestlaszlo.schilling@gmail.com

Tivadar VidaMagyar Tudományos Akadémia Régészeti IntézetéÚri utca 49H - 1014 Budapestvida@archeo.mta.hu

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