Somogyvári Ágnes – V. Székely György szerk.: A Barbaricum ösvényein… A 2005-ben Kecskeméten tartott tudományos konferencia előadásai - Archaeologia Cumanica 1. (Kecskemét, 2011)

Istvánovits Eszter - Kulcsár Valéria: A Kárpát-medencei szarmaták gyűrűs markolatú kardjai

ARCHAEOLOGIA CUMANICA 1 Eszter Istvánovits - Valéria Kulcsár Swords with ring shaped pommel of the Sarmatians of the Carpathian Basin In the weapon material of the Sarmatians of the Carpathian Basin we can separate three main types of swords (Fig. 1): 1. Short swords/daggers with ring shaped pommel; 2. Swords without metal pommel (a. long swords, b. short swords/daggers); 3. so-called Meotian type swords. In the present article we deal with the first type. Swords and daggers with ring shaped pommels found in a great number in the eastern territories of Sarmatians (Ural, Volga, Don and North Pontic Region) starting from the 3

r

d century B.C.

3

8 are relatively rare in the material of the Sarmatians of the Great Hungarian Plain (Fig. 5). We know the total of six finds (Fig. 6-9) two of which were lost without any information and further two pieces, the pommel of which is missing, but on the basis of their shape they can be classified in this group as well. These swords existed in Sarmatian weaponry from the turn of the l

s

t/2

n

d cent. A.D. up to the 4

t

h cent. At the same time, swords with ring shaped pommel are known from the provinces of Roman Empire and also from the German Barbaricum. To-date the total of 60 pieces of this type were found.

3

9 Eight of them come from Pannónia (Fig. 11-14). It is important to underline that Sarmatian and Roman swords of this type have got several features that make them different: 1. Sarmatian swords were manufactured as one piece, while in the case of Roman weapons the ring pommel was attached to the sword with a rivet. 2. Sarmatian pommels are ring shaped, Roman pommels have a got a so-called kidney shape, with a strongly thickening cross-section. Roman pommels were frequently decorated with incrustation (damascened). Some swords coming from Pannónia (Budaörs - Fig. 14, Százhalombatta/Matrica - Fig. 13) represent the Sarmatian characteristic features. It is widely known that several elements of Iranian/Sarmatian weaponry were taken over by the Roman military. We suggest that Romans borrowed the idea of swords with ring shaped pommels from the Sarmatians in the Carpathian Basin where they were close neighbours, sometimes enemies and sometimes allies, as e.g. during Traians Dacian wars, which can be the possible time of taking over this type of swords. 38 BIBORSKI 1993,102-103. 39 KOVÁCS 2005, 960-965. 70