Majorossy Judit: A Ferenczy Múzeum régészeti gyűjteményei - A Ferenczy Múzeum kiadványai, D. sorozat: Múzeumi füzetek - Kiállításvezetők 5. (Szentendre, 2014)
Rácz Tibor Ákos: Középkor
in the burials, and these were usually put into grey vessels pottered on fast wheels, which are the characteristic types of that Avar period. The casted brass jar with silver and copper inlays from the female grave with the number 740 that could be dated to the second quarter of the 7th century must be pointed out at this point. There are scenes of fights of hunters and animals among the bands of plant motifs on the jar. This piece of metalwork was a masterpiece of Early Byzantine art, which rooted in the Late Antique traditions, and had reached to an Avar cemetery as a part of plunder or tribute. In the cemetery of the Vác “Gravel-pit” that had been started at the beginning of the 7th century one can find the members of the social stratum of the warriors in a much lesser number, which phenomenon reflects certain social changes. The conquering Avars having pursued the lifestyle of warriors and nomadic pastoralists had gradually changed to a settled way of life, and by the middle of the 7th century this change was already reflected in the burials, though as a kind of impoverishment. Such settlements, characteristic of the era, have not been so far excavated in Pest County. Therefore, the dwellings of the early Avars should be described on the basis of the unearthed villages of other regions (Dunaújváros, Szekszárd, Kölked, Tatabánya). Their houses covered a surface of 8-12 m2, were of square or rectangular shapes, the semi-subterranean dwellings were supported by posts, had oven in the corner, and sometimes had stamped floors; this was a kind of house that belonged to the Eurasian type. Beside these buildings, the sources mention log houses made of wood as well as the typical Nomadic tents, the yurts, which could have been the dwellings of distinguished people. Around the living places there were workshops, garbage pits and ditch-systems, too. In the last third of the 7th century changes could be observed in the material finds of the Avars, from that time onwards when the Middle Avar Period is counted. Some scientists explain this with the immigration of the Bulgars, others consider certain internal developments. By this time the Avar Empire had already occupied the entire Carpathian Basin. In the territory of Pest County the population partially went on using the former cemeteries (Budakalász, Vác, Gödöllő), but also established new ones (Vámosmikola, Üllő, Vác). Among the material findings, besides the previously used object types, new elements had also appeared, such as, for example, the pittail-clips of men, a sei of belt-ornaments made of pressed plates. The transformation of the military tactics is similarly reflected by the new types of weaponry (the arched-edged sabres, bows with bone covers, and spears with long edges). Among the female jewels, the earrings with round or diamond crosssections and with glass bead pendants drawn up to a wireaxis became common. The burial customs did not change, so the practice of supplying the dead with food and drink survived, but from this time onwards, the overwhelming majority of used vessels were hand-shaped pottery. At the end of the 7th century and at the beginning of the A budakalászi korsó / Jug of Budakalász Indamintás övrészlet / Belt parts with plant motifs 57
