Gyöngyössy Márton (szerk.): Perspectives on the Past. Major Excavations in County Pest (Szentendre, 2008)
МЖ THE AVAR PERIOD (568-811/829) (6100-4500 ВС) (4500-2700 ВС) (2700/2500-800 ВС) Occording to a register of archaeological sites compiled in 1993, there are 203Avar settlements and 124 cemeteries in County Pest. The large-scale archaeological investigations and rescue excavations conducted since then have enriched our knowledge of this period with observations on settlement patterns and various other aspects of Avar life in this region, based on the sites investigated at Cegléd, Maglód, Pilis, Budakalász, Biatorbágy, Budaörs, Ócsa, Nagytarcsa, Páty, Pusztazámor and Vác, as well as the remarkable and lavish burials, such as the chieftain’s grave from Maglód. A nomadic population of Asian stock occupied the central areas of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve in 568. Their Asian roots are reflected by the earliest burials from this period, the so-called pyre burials containing burnt spearheads and harness articles deposited in a shallow pit, such as the ones found at Abony, Mikebuda, Pilisborosjenő and Szigetszentmiklós. Since the Carpathian Basin was not suited to a nomadic life-style of herding calling for seasonal migrations over long distances, permanent villages evolved during the 7th century, in which the armed commoners lived in a social organisation based on extended families and kindreds. The backbone of the Avar army was made up of a heavy cavalry armed with pikes, auxiliary troops of light mounted warriors, and Gepidic and Slavic infantry troops. The burial rites and grave goods from Budakalász reflect the survival of Germanic groups into the Avar period, while the ones from Vác and Szigetszentmiklós the presence of Slavs. The lavish burials of the elite of the early Avar period, such as the graves yielding a sword with gold fittings from Nagykőrös, Zsámbok and Csepel Island, suggest that the territory of County Pest was part of the Avar Empire’s heartland, as do the burials containing golden earrings from Szentendre, and the Byzantine luxury wares, such as the Byzantine amphora from Dány and the silver and copper inlaid copper jug adorned with a hunting scene from Budakalász. The 660s and 670s saw the appearance of a new costume and new weapons, as well as the expansion of the Avar settlement territory, indicating changes in the political tapestry of the Avar Empire. The empire’s new frontier in the north shifted from the Danube Bend to the River Garam, and County Pest now lay farther from the frontier than in earlier periods. New settlements were founded, whose inhabitants opened new cemeteries (Hernád, Nagykőrös, Üllő, Váchartyán), although some earlier cemeteries too remained in use (Bugyi, Budakalász). This period is sometimes called the “griffin-tendril culture” after the ornamentation of the cast bronze belt mounts, the perhaps most typical finds of this age. The larger settlements, most of which were identified during field surveys, but have not been archaeologically explored yet, can for the greater part be dated to this period (Cegléd, Nagytarcsa, Ócsa, Veresegyház). They attest to a sedentary, agrarian population. • László Simon 1. Reconstruction of a wooden amulet capsule decorated with bronze mounts, used for holding plants (by Katalin Bruder) 2. Belt mounts from the chieftain’s grave at Maglód 3. Bead necklace from the Budakalász cemetery 4. Warrior's burial from Budaörs 5. Pair of gold earrings decorated with granulation from the Avar cemetery at Páty
