Weaponry in protohistoric Europe – a report from IX Conference in Bratislava 1-4 October 2013
2013.10.26 -
This time the main theme of the conference were weapon studies. Next to several presentations discussing weapon finds from Przeworsk Culture territory and the Marcomanni-Quadi area there were also contributions dedicated to the Migration Period.
Bartosz Kontny revisited the subject of swords discovered in graves of West Balt cultures. Presenting some as yet unidentified elements of swords, scabbards and sword belts from that region he suggested that due to their substantial value swords were not deposited in graves as frequently as in the Przeworsk Culture environment and in Scandinavia. This does not mean however that swords were as unimportant as previously accepted, following the views of Wojciech Nowakowski. Their importance would be confirmed by sword finds from the bog sites at Wólka and Czaszkowo, and moreover, by the relatively frequent presence in graves of pairs of buckles, one pair belonging to a regular belt worn around the hips, the other pair (presumably) – to the balteus, the belt worn over the shoulder to suspend the scabbard. Buckles with a double prong would be elements of the hip belt, the smaller buckles in the same assemblage, elements of the balteus.
In their contribution Mirosław Rudnicki and Konstantin Skvorzov drew attention to changes in the weapon sets discovered in graves of Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture documented by materials from the cemetery Bolšoe Isakovo (former Lauth). These findings – while interesting – have the nature of a contribution to studies which in future need to be made on a much larger statistical sample.
The Migration Period was the main focus of a presentation given by Attila Kiss who compared the weapon finds of the Langobards and Gepids from the Carpathian Basin and demonstrated that weaponry of these two ethnic groups was unexpectedly alike. The next conference within the same cycle is planned in Poland!
B.K.
