Szabó Miklós, Petres F. Éva: Decorated weapons on the La Tene Iron Age in the Carpathian Basin. (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 5; Budapest, 1992)
I. EXPERIMENTATION - Scabbards with openwork mounts
Scabbards with openwork mounts The scabbard from Pottenbrunn-Ratzersdorf (Cat.no. 79; PI. 82) which came to light recently is ornamented "mit Goldblech hinterlegte Durchbruchsornamente" . The context and associations of the piece which was recovered from an early La Tène inhumation burial are unpublished. The scabbard itself is comparable to the Gödöllő fragment (Cat.no. 13; PL 14) in terms of structure and technique, a fact also borne out the pair of engraved dragon heads above the two upper large iron discs on the front plate of the Austrian scabbard. It is most regrettable that the chape of the Gödöllő scabbard has been lost for in its absence the assignment of the two swords to he same workshop can be easily challenged. 91 The triangular openwork plates of iron applied below the discs on the front and the chape reinforcement of the reverse of the Pottenbrun-Ratzersdorf scabbard have analogies with the iron belt clasps from the La Tène A burials of the Rhineland in terms of technical execution and ornamental concept. 92 The basic difference from an art historical point of view is that the openwork mount on the front was laid over a gold-leaf backing. This creates the impression of a continuous vegetal tendril which contrasts markedly with the plasticity of the pommel, the guard, and the upper frontal discs of the scabbard. 93 The scabbard from grave 40 of the Piscolt/ Piskolt cemetery (Cat.no. 97; PL 96) too has an ornamental mount: the negative and positive motifs of the openwork plate of iron applied to the midrib with its drop-shaped, triangular and semilunate piercings creates the impression of a swirling tendril pattern. The characteristic grave goods from this burial (knob-footed fibula, bipartite umbo) assign the burial to the La Tène B2 phase. 94 Fig. 8 Gournay-sur-Aronde , iron scabbard decorated with three applied sheets (after Brunaux-Meniel-Rapin [1980] fig. I4, Fig. 16)
