Balogh Zoltán – Fodor Miklós Zoltán (szerk.): Neograd 2016 - A Dornyay Béla Múzeum Évkönyve 39. (Salgótarján, 2016)

Régészet - Baráth Anita Carmen: A késő-középkori öv a falképek és a régészet tükrében

CARMEN ANITA BARÁTH

THE BELT IN LATE MEDIEVAL HUNGARY - A COMPARISON OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND PICTORIAL EVIDENCE

Late medieval visual and written sources in Hungary abound in references to the belt, which means that its formal characteristics, functions, and symbolic connotations can be examined from many perspectives. The belt took on a special role in visual representations as well; it is usually the most elaborated object depicted and it is an almost unavoidable accessory of certain iconographic media. The aim of this paper is to summarize the main issues and research questions related to these objects and to compare the archaeological data with visual representations. Both source materials raise a number of chronological questions. Recentíy I have been dealing with costume accessories at the intersection of archaeology and art history, studying source material from both fields. I have analyzed late medieval belts to point out some research problems, to better understand the chronology and the roles it played in the society as a personal article and symbol. I examined certain theories and ideas, which are prevailing in the research, such as the idea of fashion change in the beginning and then in the late-fourteenth century, but which after examining mural paintings do not seem to be right anymore. Dating belts in archaeology is also a rather challenging task especially regarding sporadic finds and the belts which were not accompanied with any other finds that could help to date them. The more or less accepted practice is to date a belt according to the material its mounts were made of. The basis for dating belt elements is frequently indirect and, for the lack of other datable materials, archaeologists date based on coins, often not even in the same grave, but near to it or in an adjacent grave. Sometimes this is a necessary solution if a scholar needs to place a certain object in time, but it is a disputable methodology. This is the point, when other sources like mural paintings do contribute to the discussion.

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