In Hungary – Rare Aval Sabre found in History Blog

Archaeologists unearth a rare Avar-era swordsman near Székesfehérvár in central Hungary. It was found in the grave of an adult male and the first to be found in the area in 46 years.

The grave was discovered as part of the “Cemetery in Space” program, which uses satellite images to detect previously unknown graves by carefully examining crop markers. Areas where the ground was previously stirred, like when digging a grave, plant brighter greener, denser grains, as looser soil will retain and then drain water more efficiently. The roots also get deeper. This technology is most efficient at digging more than one meter (3.2 feet), while the graves from the migration era are particularly recognizable as they are dug up more than six feet.

Archaeologists led by the Hungarian National Museum and the King Stephen Museum excavated the sites in satellite photography. One site is a private field on the border of Székesfehérvár, showing indicators of a large cemetery with at least 400 graves, plus a smaller cemetery nearby. Two graves of the large cemetery have now been excavated. They all date back to the Aval period (7th to 8th centuries AD).

One of them contains a saber, which is extremely rare in Avar Graves, and is unique to the highest level. When Avar Graves contain weapons, they are usually spears and bows. It was confirmed that his high social post was gilded bronze hair ornaments, and the pressed bronze belt found in his grave.

The general’s sword is wrapped thickly with corrosive material. Agricultural work in this field involves chemical treatment of crops and soils, which increases corrosion conditions and poses an ongoing threat to artifacts and remains. The team hired carpenters to create a custom wooden frame to remove the sword and surrounding soil for micro-excavation under laboratory conditions and conservative and stable. In addition to the fragile corrosive saber, there is at least one retaining element that needs to be consolidated: a piece of leather still adheres to the belt buckle.

The modern Székesfehérvár was founded by Prince geza, the father of Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, but the area resided in the Neolithic era. There was a Celtic settlement in the Iron Age, which was very important as a military, administrative and commercial center. The Huns invaded the Roman province of Pannonia in the 4th century, and Roman rule collapsed. It became part of the 6th century Aval Empire.

Avar burial was found in the large cemetery of Székesfehérvár, indicating that the area and the wider Fejér county had a large Avar population 1,400 years ago.