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 8 AND CORRIDOR - The Avar period (567/568-804 A.D.) (Éva Garam)

140 containers, needle-cases and combs, many of which were enhanced with painting. The written sources describe how men wore their hair: at first, they bound their long braids with ribbons, later they were held together with metal clamps. They used slender bone combs on the rare occasions they combed their hair. 7. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND MUSIC ISOLATION - THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE LATE AVAR PERIOD 8. COMMONERS IN THE MIDDLE TISZA REGION IN THE 8TH CENTURY The Avar Khaganate ceased its expansion after the late 7th century. The 8th century was a period of relative tranquillity and of "peaceful inactivity". Aside from a failed Carinthian campaign in 741, the Avars lived in peace with their neighbours - as a matter of fact, the Avars secluded themselves as if they lived on a remote island. They strove for peace with the Langobards too: in 776, they gave shelter to a few leaders of the Langobard uprising in Forum Iulii/Cividale. Near the close of the century, in 788, the Avars were surprised by a Frankish attack against their western frontier along the Enns River. The reason for Frankish expedition against the Avars was that they were allies of the Franks' enemies, the Bavarians. Charlemagne personally led the 791 campaign against the khaganate. Although his armies advanced as far as the Rába River, the campaign itself was unsuccessful. In 795, the Franks launched another attack - by this time, the Avars' strength had been fatally weakened. Avar society was deeply torn by the 8th century. The khagan ruled his empire from the Danube-Tisza Interfluve, the vice-ruler and the nobility had little contact with their subjects in the villages. The common folk had established themselves throughout the territory of the khaganate with their permanent villages. The shift to a peasant lifestyle based on crop cultivation and the raising of poultry and small domesticates was almost complete; pastoralism was on the decline. There was a striking contrast between the commoners and the "steppean" warrior elite. To make matters worse, a conflict broke out between the khagan and the yugurrus, one of the vice-rulers, which ended with the death of both in 795. In 804, a few years after the Frankish attack, Khrum, the Bulgar khan made war The various articles deposited in the burials allow a glimpse into the world of Avar religious beliefs. The discs ornamented with elaborate patterns, believed to ward off evil, are relics of Shamanistic beliefs, as are the miniature copies of tools and implements, the rabbit bones worn around the neck, the human face rattles and various ornaments bearing designs incorporating the Tree of Life and various animals. Beads and other objects of bygone ages found accidentally (such as the Scythian arrowhead, the fragment of a Celtic bracelet, a Roman coin, a Sarmatian brooch), which were perforated and worn around the neck, served a similar purpose. Keys unfit for any practical purpose and bronze chains were sometimes worn as talismans. Several female burials yielded pressed gold or cast bronze and lead crosses. However, the other finds from these burials indicate that these crosses cannot be regarded as an indication of the deceased's Christian beliefs. The double pipes carved from crane bone and the teat shaped bone pipe are all that remain of the Avars' music. Double pipes with five holes each are usually blown continuously and can thus be more likely regarded as bagpipes, rather than whistle-like pipes. Several late Avar objects, such as the needle-case from Szarvas, are inscribed with runes resembling the ones on a few articles of the Nagyszentmiklós Treasure. This still undeciphered runic writing was part of an Eurasian script, of which the later Szekler runic script was another member.