Istvánovits Eszter (szerk.): A nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum Évkönyve 55. (Nyíregyháza, 2013)
A 2010. október 11-14. között Nyíregyházán és Szatmárnémetiben megtartott Vándorló és letelepült barbárok a kárpáti régióban és a szomszédos területeken (I-V. század) Új leletek, új értelmezések című nemzetközi régészeti konferencia anyagai - Renata Madyda-Leugutko et al.: Új adatok a Felső-San-vidék római kori kulturális helyzetéhez
Marcin Biborski - Piotr Kaczanowski Fig. 2 Vimose (after Sieg 2003.) 2. kép Vimose (Sieg 2003. alapján) Fig- 3 Tiszalök (Hungarian National Museum, Budapest) (Photo M. Biborski) 3- kép Tiszalök (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, Budapest) (M. Biborski felvétele) allowed to claim that a certain group of magic sword pendants served in fact as decorative fittings of sword hilts (Fig. 3). The find from Tiszalök was discussed in detail by László Kovács (2001.) and next by Claus von Carnap- Bornheim (2003.), who noticed that the analysed artefacts should probably be connected with sword hilts. The interpretation of magic sword pendants as elements of hilt assemblies has been unambiguously confirmed by recently published jade and rock crystal finds from Dura-Europos (James 2004.) (Fig. 4: a-c). Such a function is also suggested by certain details of their construction. In some specimens, the central aperture’s shape resembles a cone with the base on the pendant’s flat side. One can suppose that the opening was made to match the narrowing form of the tang. In the case of a decorative artefact found near Odessa in Ukraine (Gudkova-Redina 1999.), four small apertures placed next to the central one attract attention. Most likely, shafts fitted in these apertures immobilised the pommel, preventing it from turning (Fig. 5). The question arises as to what kind of workshops manufactured sword hilts with such fittings? The available data suggest that they were Roman products. This is certainly the case with the Dura-Europos find. The specimen from Tiszalök is a Roman product too, as is indicated by the damascene-forged blade. Present-day advanced studies on the manufacture of Roman Period swords show that in the 3rd century this technique was used within the Empire but was unknown beyond the European borders of the Roman state (Biborski—Kaczanowski 1989., Biborski-Kaczanowski-K$dzierski-St^pinski 2003.). It is also worthwhile noticing that in North European moore-finds of that period, for example, at Vimose, Illerup and Thorsberg, the alleged magic sword pendants are accompanied by swords of unquestionably Roman origin, which is attested by Roman workshops’ marks on their blades, incrustations representing Roman deities and highly specialised technology. 424
