Hoards, grave goods, jewellery

Objects in hoards and in burial contexts during the Mongol invasion of Central-Eastern Europe

Mária Vargha

• Publisher: Archaeopress Archaeology
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781784912024
• eBook ISBN: 9781784912031
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

This monograph examines one specific hoard horizon, which is connected to the Mongol invasion of Hungary (1241-42). With this catastrophic event, the historical context is both well-known and much discussed by contemporaries and modern scholars. This opportunity to examine material connected to a sole event, but across a broad spectrum of geographical space and social class, is unique for hoard horizons in Hungary, and, for that matter, in Europe. Though this study focuses on hoards connected to the Mongol invasion, it is also relevant beyond this specific context. The work addresses issues concerning hoard finds and material culture, and examines how finds are related when found in different contexts (a hoard, grave, or settlement feature), thus the questions raised and conclusions reached are important for other medieval hoard finds. By comparing hoards related to a single historical event to a contemporaneous site – containing a village, a church, and a cemetery – assessments can be made regarding how hoards reflect social issues such as stratification, wealth, status, and fashion.

Table of contents

• List of Figures
• Introduction
• CHAPTER ONE
• Jewellery of the High Middle Ages: Problems with research
• Fig. 1. An example for the romantic display of the material culture of the conquering Hungarians.
• Fig. 2. Academic display of the most representative Conquest period finds.
• Fig. 3. Typical finds of the uppermost layer of commoners identified in field cemeteries.
• Fig. 4. Typical finds of field cemeteries of the commoners I. Rings, earrings, pearls, pendants, buttons.
• Fig. 5. Typical finds of field cemeteries of the commoners II: Majs-Udvari rétek. Lock rings, earrings, pearls, buttons.
• Fig. 6. Typical finds of field cemeteries of the commoners II: Majs-Udvari rétek. Pendants and mounts.
• Fig. 7. A typical field cemetery, Majs-Udvari rétek, and a method for analysation: coins.
• Fig. 8. Graves of a typical rural churchyard cemetery: Kána
• Fig. 9. Jewellery from the hoard of Pátroha – Butorka dűlő
• Fig. 10. Coins in 12-13th century Hungary. 1: 12th century anonym denars.
• Fig. 11. 13th century Hungarian coins. The imagery of the coins is influenced by Friesach-type denarius
• Fig. 12. The distribution of hoards connected to the Mongol invasion of Hungary by Csaba Tóth
• Fig. 13. The hoard of Tyukod-Bagolyvár. Jewellery and precious metal pieces.
• Fig. 14. An early example for a precise documentation of a churchyard cemetery by István Méri at Kide, in 1942.
• Fig. 15. Documentation of the superpositions of the graves at the cemetery of Kide.
• Fig. 16. Typical remains of the destruction of the Mongol invasion. 1-2: People hid in an oven of a sunken house, Sz. Wilhelm, ‘Szank’, pp. 101. Pic. 5. Cegléd. 3: Disturbed remains of people sought refuge in a house which was burnt down
• CHAPTER TWO
• Typochronology of the Finds
• Fig. 17. The phases of the cemetery of Kána.
• Fig. 18. Chronological order of the 10th-11th century finds of the Bjelo-Brdo culture. Giesler, ‘Untersuchungen zur Chronologie’, Table 53.
• Fig. 19. The common position of lock rings, examples from the cemetery of Kána. Graves 838, 1013, 1038.
• Fig. 20. Lock ring types of Kána village. 1: K/1037, 2: K/337, 3: K/633, 4: K/1977, 5: K/177, 6: K/2966, 7: K/2794, 8: K/2973, 9: K/2612.
• Fig. 21. The occurrence of lock rings in graves, hoards and settlement features
• Fig. 22. The common position of rings, examples from the cemetery of Kána. Graves 601, 861, 427, 947.
• Fig. 23. Ring types of the period. 1-8: Kána, 1: K/1794, 2: K/1777, 3: K/2778, 4: K/1821, 5: K/1732, 6: K/2600, 7: K/2100, 8: K/1976, 9: Tyukod-Bagolyvár, typical ring types of hoards – seal rings and rings with inset stones, Jakab and Balázs, Elrejtett k
• Fig. 24. Occurrence of finger rings in graves, hoards and settlement features.
• Fig. 25. Circular brooches. 1-2: Kána, K/ 14 and K/462, 3: Krásno, 4: Skalka nad Váhom, 5: Balota puszta, 6: Ducové, 7: Nitra-Dražovce
• Fig 26. Bird-shaped brooches. 1: Kána, 2: Lympne, 3: Greetwell, 4: Aslacton, 5: Leicester, 6: Lüneburg
• Fig. 27. Rhombus-shaped brooches. 1: Kána, 2: Mezőcsát, 3: Esztergom-Szentkirály
• Fig. 28. Pin from Kána, K/2667
• Fig. 29. Button types of Kána. 1: K/458, 2: K/2292, 3: K/456, 4: K/1170.1, 5: K/1170.2, 6: K/357
• Fig. 30. The common position of buckles, examples from the cemetery of Kána. Graves 44, 903.
• Fig. 31. Belt buckles. 1-7 Kána, 1: K/731, 2: K/1170, 3: K/2392, 4: K/2789, 5: K/1731, 6: K/143, 7: K/465, 8: Héhalom, 9: Ecseg-Vároldal
• Fig. 32. Round, iron buckles. 1-2: Kána, K/1783, K/182, 3: Ducové, 4: Krásno
• Fig. 33. Belt buckles decorated with flower applications. 1: Kána, K/94, 2: Nitra-Dražovce, 3: Egisheim
• Fig. 34. The hoard of Esztergom-Szentkirályi földek.
• Fig. 35. The occurrence of buckles in graves, hoards and settlement features
• Fig. 36. Mounts from Kána. 1: K/312, 2: K/467, 3: K/2523
• Fig. 37. An example for the use of pectoral crosses as part of a necklace in the 10-11th centuries, from Majs.
• Fig. 38. Pectoral cross from Kána, K/1725
• Fig. 39. The comparative chronology of the artefacts.
• CHAPTER THREE
• The Material Culture of Hoards: A Socio-Economic Interpretation
• Fig. 40. Laszlovszky, ‘Social Stratification’, pp. 59-60.
• Fig. 41. Laszlovszky, ‘Social Stratification’, pp. 61-62.
• Fig. 42. Map of Medieval Clay Pots Found with Coins.
• Fig. 43. Jewellery from the Nyáregyháza-Pusztapótharaszt Hoard.
• Fig. 44. Gold S-ended Lock Rings.
• Fig. 45. An Example for Late Medieval Treasure: The Kelebia Hoard.
• Fig. 46. Golden Headpiece Found in a Burnt Down House at Szank.
• Fig. 47. The Karcag Hoard.
• Fig. 48. Golden Drop Headpiece from Tyukod-Bagolyvár.
• Fig. 49. An Example for the Characteristic Jewellery of Smaller Hoards: Zalaszentgrót.
• Fig. 50. An Example for the Different Composition of Iron Depots. 1: Nyáregyháza-Pusztapótharaszt,
• Fig. 52. Ashlar Framed and Simple Earth Graves from Kána Village. Graves 43, 373, 268, 84.
• Fig. 53. A Characteristic House Type for the Arpadian Age. 1: Reconstruction of a House in Kardosút.
• Fig. 54. Typical Arpadian Age Settlement Structures I. The Layout of the Sites Vecsés 67 and 98, with Chronologically Distinguished Features.
• Fig. 55. Typical Arpadian Age Settlement Structures II. The Layout of the Sites Üllő 1 and 2, with Chronologically Distinguished Features. Rácz, ‘Az Árpád-kori települési formák’, p. 180.
• Fig. 56. Reconstruction of a Typical Village Scene, Based on the Excavations at Tiszaeszlár-Bashalom.
• Bibliography
• Conclusion
• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents