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 5 - The Iron Age: The Scythians and the Hallstatt culture (800-450 B.C.) (Tibor Kemenczei)

46. Scythian iron weapons from Timar and Alsótelekes. Later 7th century B.C. 3. BURIALS, HORSE HARNESS AND WEAPONS The over two and a half thousand graves from this period show a colourful variety of burial practices. Cremation and inhumation with the deceased buried in an extended or contracted position were both practiced. In addition to two fully harnessed horses, the finds from Grave 13 of the Szentes-Vekerzug cemetery contained the iron hoop tyres and the iron nave caps of a four-wheeled wagon. The custom of depositing wagons into the grave can again be traced to the east, to the Kuban region. Horse burials have been found in several cemeteries. The custom of burying horses was unknown before the Scythian Age in the Great Hungarian Plain. The separate horse burials excavated at Szentes-Vekerzug can be associated with the warrior graves in the cemetery. The best analogies to the horse burials of the Great Hungarian Plain can be quoted from the Scythian graves uncovered in the steppe region - this cultural link is confirmed also by the fact that the horses belonged to the Asian tarpan species. Most of the iron bits with side-bars used for controlling and directing horses were recovered from male graves and horse burials (Szentes-Vekerzug). Fine examples of bridle distributors came to light in Grave 16 of the same burial ground. The cast bronze discs were covered with gold foil that glittered on the one-time bridle. Ornaments of this type were intended to display the rank and wealth of the mounted warrior. Judging from the different weapon types deposited in the burials of the Great Hungarian Plain, the communities of the Scythian Age had a powerful warrior layer. Their weapons - iron battle-axes, short swords, daggers, spears (Fig. 46), scale armours, bows and arrows - reflect the mounted warfare of the steppean peoples, which was developed during the Scythian Age. The excellent armaments and the efficient battle tactics of the eastern mounted warriors were soon adopted, as shown by the widespread use of Scythian type weapons in the Northern Balkans, the Eastern Alpine region and Central Europe. The importance of bows in warfare is reflected in the burial customs. Warriors were often buried with several dozen arrowheads; for example, twenty-five arrowheads were placed into one of the burials at Mátraterenye. Another important item of the Scythian warrior's equipment was the short sword, called akinakes (a word borrowed from Persian). The Scythians disseminated this weapon from Iran to the Carpathian Basin (Szirmabesenyő, Tímár, Piliny) in the course of their many campaigns. One popular motif of eastern animal art was the predatory eagle. The hilt of a dagger found at Szentes-Vekerzug was covered with an antler plaque carved in the form of an eagle head, while the bronze hilt of an iron sword from Penc was topped with a similar bird head.