Schildbuckel und Ihre Entwicklung im Karpatenbecken des 5. Jahrhunderts / Shield bosses and their development in the Carpathian Basin of the 5th century

Abstract

This study presents the 5th century shield bosses types known from the material of burials in the Carpathian Basin and their development. A wide range of objects spread throughout the area during the late Roman Imperial and the early migration periods (Type of Dobrodzień/Zieling T-Varianten, Csongrad/Zieling L, Misery/Zieling H1, Vermand, Horgos/Libenau; Kiszombor). It is typical that the graves in which shields were placed are known mainly from the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin (we do not know any such burials from Transdanubia). Among the conical shield bosses, specimens ending in a spike also appear during the middle third of the 5th century, evoking earlier forms (ancient Germanic traditions). Unfortunately, previous research has often classified certain types into one type based only on similar characteristics (form of the cone). In the present writing, in order to avoid this, I tried to separate the pieces previously classified only for the Horgos/Libenau type. In the case of the latest pieces (second half and end of the 5th century), the spike should be hammered (Grave Kiszombor-B 308). In the latest pieces, which appear in the earliest graves of the row-grave cemeteries, the spike was hammered. At the end of the 5th century, pieces of Merovingian culture known in the west appear, which spread very rapidly in the area and in the local material of row-grave cemeteries.