Metalwork with metal-inlaid, Zahnschnitt and punched interlace designs in the Avar-period cemetery of Zamárdi

Abstract

Discussed in this study are the metal accessories of the male and female belts of the Avar-period cemetery of Zamárdi that were decorated with inlaid, Zahnschnitt and punched interlace designs made using various techniques. These metal accessories in part had a similar function. The Avar-period use of the design that harks back to Merovingian origins is frequently attested on the large strap-ends of the decorative straps attached to belts worn by women in the Transdanubian cemeteries characterised by the wide range of artefacts of Germanic origin (Budakalász, Csákberény, Kölked A, B), but is most ubiquitous in the Zamárdi cemetery. The transformation and simplification of the design and of the articles adorned with it can be traced from the late 6th to the early 8th century. A similar process can be noted in the Avar-period burial grounds of the Middle Tisza region, and particularly in the Tiszafüred cemetery opened in the mid-7th century, in which the origins of the female costume accessories (strap-ends of the decorative straps attached to female belts, ball-on-hoop earrings and various female implements) are essentially the same as that of their counterparts in Transdanubia.