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 - The post-Waldalgesheim design

spearhead from Rebourseaux (Yonne) (Fig. 10) clearly suggests that a similar phenomenon can be assumed in the western provinces of La Tène culture during the 3th century B.C.

105 The spearhead from Saunières (Saône-et-Loire) which is decorated in the best Waldalgesheim tradition with a combination of lyre-palmettes and human masks (Fig. 11) illustrates the nature of east-west contacts.

106 A strongly simplified version of this ornament executed in relief lines can be seen on the plate applied to the socket of a spearhead from Kosd (Cat.no. 28; PL 27). Fig. 11 Saunières (Saône-et-Loire), incised ornament on the socket of the iron spear-head (after Bulard [1978] fig. 2) A similar artistic connection is suggested by the decoration of the Rezi-Rezicser sword scabbard (Cat.no. 56, Suppl. 3). The upper border of the scabbard is framed with tendrils in the best Waldalgesheim tradition. Underheath lies a "flower wreath" with triskeles filling a metope. Even though Frey thought that this motif anticipates the Sword Style it is in fact a conservative element that can be traced to earlier La Tène prototypes.

107 The backbone to the composition of the front plate is a carefully engraved swastika-meander running diagonally,

108 with complementary motifs of postWaldalgesheim tendrils, triskeles and petal leafs. Above the chape in a metope sits a compass-drawn "star rosette",

109 whilst the lowermost part of the scabbard is covered with postWaldalgesheim tendrils. We have seen that this geometric organization of the design has much in common with the ornamental concept current in the Marne region.

110 However, on the Rezi-Rezicser sheath the geometric axis