Majorossy Judit: A Ferenczy Múzeum régészeti gyűjteményei - A Ferenczy Múzeum kiadványai, D. sorozat: Múzeumi füzetek - Kiállításvezetők 5. (Szentendre, 2014)
Farkas Zoltán: Avarok kora
katonai erejét és 805-ben a kagán is behódolt Nagy Károlynak. Ettől kezdve a Kárpát-medencében sorra jöttek létre a kisebb-nagyobb fejedelemségek és vazallus államok. A nagy tömegű avar lakosság azonban nem tűnt teljesen el, 871-ben még van forrásunk adót fizető avar lakosságról. Régészeti adataink folyamatosan utalnak egy 9. században jelen levő késő avar tömbre, de a magyar honfoglalást megélő lakosságról egyértelmű adataink nincsenek. THE AVAR PERIOD 6th century - 9th century The various centuries of division was interrupted by the immigration of a new group of people in 567/568. With the Avars moving into the Carpathian Basin, the region again formed an economic and political unit for more than 200 years. The scholarly debates about the origin of the Avars had been settled by now. It became widely accepted that the melting-pot group of this people partially consisted of the Mongolian Juan-Juan who were chase away from Inner Asia where they once had their own empire, and partially of the Central-Asian Hephthalites. During their long migration through the steppe many more, smaller tribes joined them. By the 560s they reached the Lower Danube and sent envoys to the Byzantine Empire. Their main sources of subsistence were the nomadic animal husbandry as well as robbery and pillage. By the second half of the 560s a much stronger empire appeared in their Eastern neighbourhood, the Western Turcs. In their difficult situation, the Avars took advantage of the harsh conflict between the Gepids and the Lombards living in the Carpathian Basin. As the allies of the Lombards, in 567 the Avars led by Khagan Bayan occupied the territory of Transylvania and the Great Plain, and a year later, after the Lombards had moved to Northern Italy, the Transdanubian region was also subjected to the Avar rule. The Early Avar Period (566/568- 670/680) was characterised by the great military expeditions against the Byzantine Empire and by those peaceful periods that followed each of these campaings, purchased and forced mainly by great tributes. Consequently, this was the richest phase of the Avar Empire. At that time the territory of the Avar Empire did not cover the entire Carpathian Basin yet, therefore, the area of present-day Pest County formed a part of its borderland. From the period that had followed their immigration hardly any archaeological material were excavated. These few finds partially reflect the Nomadic traditions of the steppe (funeral pyres from Abony, Szigetszentmiklós, and Mikebuda), while the uncovered élite graves partially mirror the occupation of the territory (Törökbálint). From the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century the number of sites increased, and the rich fragments of a cemetery that was found near Szentendre, could be dated to this time interval. One of the most important burial fields of the Avar Period at Budakalász became also dominant from this period onwards. The material finds of both sites indicate the richness of this era, Byzantine coins paid as tribute, golden and silver jewels (rings, earrings, and bracelets) appeared. The cemetery at Budakalász clearly shows the structure of the Avar society and the important military role of the territory. The most significant part of the burial fields is the graves of the armed warriors buried with their horses and those of the infantrymen. Single-edged swords, bows, spears, throwing spears appeared among the weapons, while for protection shields and armours were used. Besides the weapons and the jewels, drink and food as grave goods for the journey to the otherworld are also to be found Szürke korongolt kerámiák / Grey wheel-made pottery 56
