The Avar-Khaganate Necropolis and Early-Medieval settlement features in Cierny Brod

• Authors: Zabojnik J.
• Languages of publication: SK

Abstracts

EN

The author presents the results from his study of a part of necropolis in Cierny Brod dated to the Avar Khaganate period and the settlement features dated to the early-medieval period. The part of Avar-Khaganate necropolis is represented by 19 burials. Among them the equestrian grave 63 with a partial burial of the horse is exceptional. This is the second known case of such way of burying from the late phase of the Avar Khaganate on the territory of Slovakia, as till now the graves with partial burial of the horses were unambiguously dated to the early phase of the Khaganate. Their finds are the most frequent in the river Tisa basin. At the other regions of the Carpathian basin they are more or less rare. Important is also a collection of the finds from the grave (88), in which a cast bronze belt garniture was revealed. Among them a main belt strap-end is remarkable. Its front side is decorated with composition called 'fighting animals' or so-called 'three-piece ornament'. Exceptional presentation of this relatively frequent motif enables us to classify the strap-end to the 'Nyekladhaza type'. Its back side is decorated with a rather rare feather ornament. The set of the belt mounts included also the quadratic mounts with the pendants decorated with a griffon. The other graves had relatively poor equipment (simple ear-rings, beads, iron knives, sickles, etc.). Two wooden buckets, from which their iron platings were preserved, and a set of five pottery pieces represent the vessels. These were found in the children graves. They are mostly the winded exemplars. The part of the necropolis under study, on which probably relatively poor community buried their deceased members, can be dated to the first half of the 8th century. The early-medieval period is represented also by the settlement objects (one dwelling with two adjacent depressions and two pits). Considering absence of metal artefacts that could make their dating more precise, in their chronology we have to rely on dating of numerous pottery fragments. These allow us to classify the settlement objects only the general features to the end of the 9th and the 10th centuries.

Keywords

EN

AVAR KHAGANATE PERIOD; EARLY MIDDLE AGES; NECROPOLIS; SETTLEMENT SITE

Discipline

• ARCHAEOLOGY: ARCHAEOLOGY

• Publisher: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Archaeological Institute
• Journal: Slovenská archeológia (Slovak Archaeology)
• Year: 2006
• Volume: 54
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 95-142
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Zabojnik J.

• J. Zabojnik, Archeologicky ustav SAV, Akademicka 2, 949 21 Nitra, Slovak Republic

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

06SKAAAA01793852