Garam Éva szerk.: Between East and West - History of the peoples living in hungarian lands (Guide to the Archaeological Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum; Budapest, 2005)

HALL 7 - The early Migration period: the Huns and the Germanic peoples (c. 420-568 A.D.) (Ágnes B. Tóth)

fastened with a silver buckle bearing an engraved pattern. Their personal jewellery included gold earrings with precious stones, bracelets of silver and gold, necklaces strung of amber, cornelian and glass beads during the third quarter of the 5th century (Szabadbattyán). Further evidence for the presence of Germanic peoples is furnished by the Runic inscription on a buckle from Szabadbattyán: the word MARING on the reverse was probably a Suebian name. The revival of chip-carving, a goldsmithing technique first used in the Roman world, can be noted on buckles from the mid-5th century. A few decades later, brooches too began to be decorated with geometric patterns made with this technique. Some of the most superb pieces of late 5th century jewellery were created by the eastern Germanic goldsmiths in the Danube region. This style can be best observed on female jewellery, especially on the silver gilt brooches made up of a semi-circular headplate decorated with projecting knobs and an elongated pentagonal footplate and the buckles with a similar pentagonal plate and rounded loop, most of which were decorated with spiral and meander designs, often combined with garnet cabochons. Animal depictions, such as boars and birds of prey, were also quite popular. The finds from Gáva, Bácsordas and Répcelak can be assigned here, together with a few unprovenanced brooches from the Carpathian Basin (Fig. 93). The goldsmiths of the ensuing period (the earlier 6th century) continued this tradition both in Transdanubia and eastern Hungary. 11-14. THE GEPIDS IN THE GREAT HUNGARIAN PLAIN (4th century-567 A.D.) Similarly to the Goths, the Gepids too emerged as a distinct people in the region of the Vistula mouth during the Roman Age. They arrived to the Carpathian Basin after a long southward migration. They lived in this region under the rule of the Huns; according to the written sources, the Gepidic king Ardarich was one of Attila's most trusted men. Following the disintegration of the Hun Empire, the Gepids, who led the revolt against the Huns, became lords over the eastern half of the Carpathian Basin. Starting from the northeast (from the Upper Tisza region, and the Szamos and the Kraszna valleys), they penetrated Transylvania (the burials of Gepidic kings have been found at Apahida near Kolozsvár) and then occupied eastern Hungary. The earliest finds from the latter region which can be securely linked to Gepids come from the burials of noblewomen who were laid to rest in solitary graves or small burial grounds with a few graves only, as was the general custom at the time. The grave goods recovered from these burials resemble the ones from Transdanubia and the Danube-Tisza Interfluve: pairs of large silver sheet brooches decorated with gilt plaques, a smaller brooch (usually on the breast), large, chip-carved belt buckles, earrings with garnet inlays, silver or gold bracelets and bead necklaces (Tiszalök, Mád, Gyulavári; Fig. 94). The latest among these was brought to light at Gáva: the large silver brooch pair was decorated with a spiral pattern in the taste of the late 5th century, while the bull head knobs were soldered on separately. The large cemeteries with carefully laid out grave rows were opened in the final third of the 5th century, after the gradual occupation of eastern Hungary. Many of these cemeteries, often containing over 300 burials, remained in use during the earlier 6th century too. The major cemeteries in the Great Hungarian Plain lie near the Tisza, usually by crossing-places, with a concentration around Szolnok, Szentes, Hódmezővásárhely and Szeged. Sadly, most of the burials in these cemeteries, used over several generations, were robbed, and the reconstruction of Gepidic society is rather difficult owing to the scarcity of finds. It would appear that warriors and their families occupied a