Die awarisch-italischen Beziehungen aus goldschmiedetechnischer Sicht: Ein Vorbericht

Abstract

The technological choices made in the production process of a particular object can provide valuable clues regarding the identity and background of the goldsmith who made it. For example, true repousse ("Treibziseliertechnik") was an uncommon technique throughout the entire Avar Period, although it occurs on a number of high-quality items of metalwork, which may be associated - for typological, stylistic and/or technological reasons - with "Byzantine" culture. Although the importance of connections between "Byzantine" and "Avar" culture is already well known, the mechanisms of cultural and technological transfer, as well as the regions where such transfer took place, are not yet clear. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate, with the help of two case studies, how a combination of technological criteria with an innovative, detailed typology of plant ornament may contribute to resolving these questions. The results of this preliminary study suggest that "Italo-Byzantine" workshop traditions may have played an important role in this context.