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)

95. Richly decorated Gepidic tableware from the Great Hungarian Plain Late 5th century-earlier 6th century prominent place in the social hierarchy. The Gepidic warrior's arms consisted of a long sword, a lance and a shield and, occasionally, a short sword and a bow. The 80-100 cm long double-edged sword, worn on the left side, was kept in a wooden scabbard covered with leather. The lances included both light and heavy pieces: the leaf shaped heads were fixed onto a roughly 2 m long shaft. Singleedged short swords were 50-70 cm long, while battle knives were 30-50 cm long. The wooden shield was round or oval, with a diameter of 80-100 cm. It was covered with leather and an iron shield boss fixed to its centre protected the warrior's hand. Warriors' wives were buried with their jewellery crafted from precious metals. The silver or bronze brooches (the latter worn by the less wealthy) were ornamented with geometric and, later, tendril patterns. These brooches were worn at the shoulders in the 5th century. Later, they were used to fasten the garment at the chest and later still, in the earlier 6th century, their position indicates that garments were fastened at the waist. Belts were clasped with an ornate buckle, sometimes decorated with an eagle head. Narrow textile straps embellished with ringed metal mounts and large beads or polished gems, believed to ward off evil, were suspended from the belts. Female costume was made up of a shift, an overgarment and a veil or shawl thrown over the shoulders. Clothing was generally sewn from wool cloth - only nobles could afford clothing of silk and brocades (Hódmezővásárhely-Kishomok). The custom of burying the deceased with their head oriented to the west and their faces towards the east became widespread in the mid-