A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 44. (Nyíregyháza, 2002)

Régészet - Igor Gavritukhin: On the study of double-plate fibulas of the first subgroup

On the study of double-plate fibulas of the first subgroup made from an unclenched thin plate of low-standard silver; the post for the spring and catchplate were made separately and were soldered. This variant of fibulas is dated to the Hun Age, based on the co-finding of objects made of glass and metal (fig. 14: 3-18), and also on the scale of evolution of ceramic vessels (GAVRITUKHIN-MALASHEV 1998. 48). These fibulas, which belong to rather representative Eastern subgroup of double-plate fibulas with a foot widened closer to the bow (subgroup II by Ambroz) and were in use in the Northern Caucasus and the Volga and Aral regions during the 5

th-7

th c, are similarly constructed (AMBROZ 1980. 6-10., GAVRITUKHIN ET AL. 1996. 227-228, LEVINA 1996. 335; ABRAMOVA 1997. ris. 28: 11, 55: 6-8, 61: 23-25; GAVRITUKHIN-MALASHEV 1998. 56, ris. 3: 2, 7, 14; GAVRITUKHIN 1997/98.). The style of the fibulas with rhombic foot points to their connection with the North Pontic regional context referred to above (cf. fig. 11: 8-17). Double-plate fibulas with unclenched plates are known in Kerch as well, but they are represented extensively only by the specimens of subgroup II (ZASETSKAIA 1990. 102, 103, ZASETSKAIA 1993. tab. 4). In treating the special role of the population of the Middle Danube region in the history and culture of the Hun Age, we must note the special importance of the fibulas with narrow rhombic foot found in the Carpathian basin. The fibula from Tiszadob-Sziget (fig. 11:4) finds direct analogies among Kerch fibulas, based on the type of post for the spring, the style of the lateral post for springs and all other details (fig. 9: 9, 14, 11: 10-11). Yet it is remarkable that another double-plate fibula from this site (fig. 2:1), which was created by a compact group of people rather homogeneous in culture, belongs, by all characteristic features, to a series Marosszentanna/Sintana de Mures variant, clearly based on Dniester-Danube traditions (map 5:7,3:4+1). A fibula from Kassa/Kosice (fig. 14: 22, map 5: 20 + 1) imitates the contours of foot and double-spring construction with upper string of the above specimen from Tiszadob, but it was produced in an entirely different manner (in the technological sense). Its head-plate and foot, made from rather thick unclenched metallic plate, are linked by a rather "simply-made" cored bow. Analogies to this technique of manufacturing and to the shape can be found both in the Caucasus and in Kerch, as well as in the Tisza region (fig. 14: 1, 32, 23). The Caucasian variations are local remakes of the foreign specimens; the Kerch fibula looks dissimilar to the local series (the specimens from South Crimea - fig. 3: 24, 25 - differ from it in all other details); and for the Dniester-Danube zone, cored bows of roundish section, including non-massive ones, are quite usual (fig. 5: 23, 32-33 etc.). The post for the spring of the fibula from Kassa/Kosice, though it is similar to the ones in the North Pontic region, has its closest analogies in Dniester-Danube single-spring fibulas with upper string (fig. 14: 23, 6: 21-22, 29). Thus, we can see how forms introduced from the East were re-made according to local traditions, a practice quite common by the end of the 4

th c. in the Tisza region and in Transylvania. Features that are represented separately on two specimens in Tiszadob are combined in the single fibula from Kassa/Kosice. On the basis of a number of details, the find from Kassa/Kosice is rather close to the second fibula from burial 1953 in Ufa (fig. 7: 10), which, however, Ambroz assigned to variant IIA; this fact is rather difficult to understand given our current level of knowledge. The shape and the manufacturing technique of the fibula from Tiszakarád (fig. 14: 19, map 5: 19 + 1) are close to those of the fibula from Kassa/Kosice, and its contours recall the finds from Letcani and from grave 165 in Braviceni (fig. 13: 11) described above. In many of