Dear Reader,

If you want to get acquainted with Somogy county,you may look it up in an encyclopedia, play with geographical parameters, tlry economic indices and series of statistics still you will not be able to tell that you know Somogy county. Each square meter of the 6036 m2 between the Balaton and the Drdva hides some surprise which we can only understand if we know its history as well. From time to time we have to open the 'treasury' of the county so that we can adapt ourselves to its present through reciting the almost forgotten history. We hare been preserving many things in this  'treasury'. Old documents, caned stone saturated with sweat, rusty swords, flags of glorious days, shepherd's wood carvings from the everyday life, tales about witches, legends about highwaymen, lamenting songs, dances of lads showing off with their strength and skill... First we only take pleasure in them, later perhaps also think of their message. When we have done this we may be able to understand everyday life and holidays in Somogy. One of the county festives, the County Day is an event when >vc recall our past. We organized it on 6th January, 1996 for the first time with the intent to create a tradition, to have an exact date every year when we can together search the secrets of our past, cite its relics and seek the possible ways of future. This day we commemorate the important historical event when King II. Uldszlo first among the counties bestowed a letter patent to Somogy.

The conferment document is closed, by the King's order, in the following way:

,,In faith and testimony thereof, in the interest of its strength and eternal validity we issued the present document strengthened with out hanging secret seal which we use as king of Hungary. Dated in Buda, on the Twelfth Day in the thousand and four hundred-eighty-eighth year of our Lord, in the eighth year of our Hungarian etc. royalty, in the twenty-seventh year of our Bohemian royalty."

500 years have passed since then. On our jubilee celebration we open again the door of the 'treasury'. Real treasures, golden jewels came to light to our pleasure and to remember our ancestors. To remember those who loved on this piece of land called now Somogy since the legacy of the people who once lived here contributed to wealth of our county. We would like to present this underground richness in the archaeological exhibition to be opened on the County Day and through the publication issued on this occasion. An unparalleled rich Avar cemetery can be found in our county at Zamardi from where this rare rich archaeological material came. It is due to the value rescuing and value creating activity and financial support of the National Cultural Fund, that the Centre of Museums in Somogy county can exhibit the restored museum values from the find material counting several thousand items. The original pieces in the exhibition have turned so beautiful in careful hands that it is almost unbelievable, still it is true: the objects, implements and jewels exhibited here had been hidden in the earth of Somogy county for more than a thousand years.

We can wonder at the folding iron stools with ancient gleam from the Migration Period which are unique pieces in the world and we have the right to say that the 'treasury' of Somogy county is really rich.

We place these pieces, too, on the table among our values as a symbolic greeting of the day.

Kaposvar 6 January, 1998.

On the front cover The shield of the county

(II. Ulaszld GRANTS A SHIELD TO THE COUNTY ON THE PETITION SUBMITTED

BY JOSA of SOM, steward of Temes and Peter of BWTHKA, steward of Somogy IN

THE NAME OF THE ARISTOCRACY OF SOMOGY COUNTY, 6. January, 1498, BUDA)

(Vellum with painted shield and trace of hanging seal)

The original document is kept in the ARCHIVES OF SOMOGY COUNTY (inv.no.91.)

Gilded bronze belt mount with precious stone inlay, fashioned in the 2nd German animal style

On the back cover Gold earrings front the 7th century

Silver cross with embossed rim

The excavation was set up from the material of the Centre of Museums in Somogy County on the request of die General Assembly of Somogy County.

Financial supporters: Ministry of Culture and Education

National Cultural Fund General Assembly of Somogy County

Organizers: Edith Bardos archaeologist Ferenc Matucza exhibition designer Jozsef Laszlo

Photos: Mrs. Gdbor Gozsy

The excavation photos were made by Edith Bardos

Graphical design: Laszlo Homydk, graphic artist

Catalogue editor: Ferenc Matucza

Scientific advisor: Dr. Istvdn Bona

General editor: dr. Istvdn Szabolcs, director of the Centre of Museum of Somogy County

Edited in 1000 copies in the Piispok and Co. Press

The East-Transdanubian type cemeteries formed in the eastern part of the earlier Pannonia at the end of the 6th, the beginning of the 7th century. (Budakalasz, Csakbereny, Kolked-Feketekapu, Kornye, Zamardi etc.) These Avar cemeteries are richer than usual in the western part of the Avar kaganate. They contain a great number of German type objects, many can be assigned to Byzantine and there are objects from Italy as well. A characteristic find unit is composed of productions decorated with the 2nd German animal style. The Avar cemetery at Zamardi on the southern bank of the Balaton excels from all of them.

The first graves of the cemetery were found in 1972. Kornel Bakay unearthed 34 graves and published their material. The Centre of the Museums in Somogy county has been carrying out excavations for one and a half decade since 1980. The consultant of the excavations is professor Istvan Bona (Eotvos Lorant University). The site is located on the southern bank of Lake Balaton, facing the Tihany peninsula, no more than 12 Ions from the Roman Tricciana (Sagvar).

The measurements of the cemetery are very large, it occupies a great ellipse (app.400 m x 200 m). Up to now, 2365 graves have been unearthed over a surface of 25.000 m2. The estimated number of burials is about the double of the unearthed one. The remaining graves are protected by private vineyards, orchards and the vineyard of the cooperative.

A great ,,dross field" can be found east of the cemetery which has been known since the 50's There used to be iron furnaces here over a surface of 200m x 150 m. Rescue excavations unearthed remains of furnaces and settlements. Archaeomagnetic analyses dated the furnaces to the 8th century. About one and a half lcm south of the cemetery, another cemetery from the Conquest Period was disturbed by ploughing in the 70's.

100 % oi the excavated graves in the Avar cemetery had been robbed but what was left by the grave robbers shows a miraculous richness and variability. The constitution and quality of the find material designate a community of high social level. The finds mirror the material culture of Europe in the 7th century. The rich Byzantine ornaments, the folding iron stools of Italy, western type belt mounts, glass wares, bronze dish and bronze jug, pieces of costume from the land of the Merovings, etc.

German type objects are frequent in the earlier part of the cemetery. Bone combs, German type clasps, inlaid iron belt mounts, sometimes forked fishing harpoons, shield knob and finally objects decorated with the Avarized variety of the 2nd German animal style.

There is a great variety of belt mounts with Byzantine ornamentation: belt mounts with dot and line or ,,drop" motives, depiction of a human face on the mounts, Byzantine type buckles and various Christian motives. It is a question if the variety of the find material reflects also an ethnic variety.

The Avars believed in life after death. They prepared their dead to the long journey in an appropriate manner, that is according to the position, the rank they held in the community. They adorned the dead with a decorative belt and laid the weapons and tools beside the body. The decorative belt is a symbol of rank among the equestrian people of the steppes. Several belt types were used in the early Avar period. In the graves of the Avar cemetery at Zamardi, we could find Byzantine type belts, those with Merovingian construction and the griffon and tendril belts of the Late Avar period. Besides, there are representatives of the silver inlaid iron belt sets used in West Europe, the Italo-Langobard bronze belt mounts with large spheres and belt decorations with analogues also in Italy.

The Avars often supplied the dead with food and drink for the journey to the other world. Clay vessels were placed to the head and the feet of the dead. Only about one tenth of the graves contained vessels: probably the spreading of Christianism pushed back this pagan custom. A generally used vessel type of the period was the wooden bucket. The decorated ones were covered with bronze sheet bands with embossed rim or bronze sheets decorated with griffon and tendril figures.

The fact that nearly 100 warriors were buried together with their horses attests to the wealth of the community at Zamardi. The burial rite with horses is the same both at early burials and at later ones. The warrior was lain in a W-E directed pit. His harnessed horse was placed to the feet of the dead in the same direotion but into another pit. The skeleton of the horse is found as it fell, with the harness in its place. We can often find the bit in its mouth, the decoration of the bridle and the breaching over the skeleton and the spear, which caused its death, beside the skull. The important equipments of the Avar attack, the stirrups are found on the two sides of the skeleton. The saddle was also put into the grave but we can only find it if it was covered with bone or metal plaiting. The early harness decoration was made of thin silver sheet filled with lead in the inside.

Richly gilded bronze harness decoration was found in the graves with horse burial from the 7th c, although they rarely stayed in their original place due to grave robbers. These graves sometimes also contain rod terminals made of bone.

The early stirrups have a vaulted footing with pulled up long or looped ears. In the 8th century, the stirrups with straight footing become accepted together with cast bronze, often gilded bridle rose and the caparison that decorated the head of the horse.

The most important weapon was the bow. In the graves, we find its bone plating. The iron arrowheads were kept in a quiver which was often decorated with carved bone plates. The quiver belt was decorated with silver-sheet rosette shaped mounts with cast lead in them. Their equipment also contained the bone disentagler which was used to bend the bow. Beside the bow they also used spears and swords.

The contemporary sources tell that the equipment and war tactic of the Avar warriors also served as an example for the Byzantine Empire: „...their equestrian spear should be furnished with a leather strap in its middle and with a flag similarly to that of the Avars; they should have swords and their neck protector will be worn outside similarly to the Avars and with series of wool bands in the inside... It is necessary that the horses, first of all the horses of the leaders and the elite warriors... should be furnished with breast shields made of iron or felt or their breasts and necks should be covered similarly to the Avars' especially of those who stand in the fighting line of the battle field... Two iron stirrups must be attached to the saddle..." (Mauricius).

The Byzantine Empire paid annual tax to the Avars, which by time mounted to 100.000 gold coins, for keeping the peace. Most of these coins were melted in the Avar Empire. Sources tell, and The  graves attest to the same, that the Avars relished in pomp and splendour. Some of their gold jewels were Byzantine make. Several graves contained Byzantine gold coins placed into the grave as dead obulus but since grave robbers did a good job, only one grave held a gold solidus and another one could be located (we could observe the negative print of the coin in the corrosion of the ironing of the coffin). Grave 1392. contained the gold coin of 20 siliquis ofHeraclius and Heraclius Constantinus (minted between 620 and 625).

The Avars' relish in splendour is reflected in the costume of the women. Their gold jewels mirror the fashion of the period: - gold earrings with big spheres and uplifted sphere pendant with granulated decoration are frequent in the female graves from the 7th century. Gold jewels can also be found in male burials as some segment shaped gold lockring and small gold rings decorated with granulation.

The strings of colored beads were important elements of the female costume. The variegated strings of beads testify a highly developed aesthetic taste. The bulbous, eyed beads of the early period are masterpieces of applied art. Later, the strings of beads change in shape, in colors, and also in raw material. Following the biconical beads of the 7th century, the sliced paste beads, the melon seed shaped paste beads and those with flowing decoration become dominant. A frequently occurring element of costume is the torques made of bronze wire, often with a small cylindrical holder on it, the so-called 'bulla'. Various objects were often worn round the neck as amulets e.g. a pierced Roman coin hanging from a necklace or a brass dolphin attached to a leather strip or a Roman bronze fibula worn on the left side hanging from a leather strap.

Armrings are less frequent in Early Avar graves, although they became more frequent in the Late Avar period. We can find closed sheet armrings with articulated structure. Their nicest representatives are the armrings in graves 517-518, decorated with the 2nd German serrated animal style. The same shape is later decorated with pounced ornament. With the population of griffon and tendril ornament the cast bronze armrings with pounced decoration and open terminals were mass products. The characteristic requisites of the female burials were the iron keys, the bone needle-cases (sometimes also made of iron or bronze), spindie whorls and two-handled iron cutting instruments. Cast bronze rattlers can also be found in the graves of women and girls, often displaying the depiction of a human face. The earrings in female burials became larger and larger, the gold is substituted by silver and later bronze, still imitating the shapes of the early pieces. The two earrings are sometimes connected with a small bronze chain. Uplifted dodecahedral bronze earrings with pendants are frequently met in the cemetery at Zamardi. They are carefully made goldsmith works of Byzantine character, decorated with segments and granulation.

Perhaps the most important and beautiful find group of the cemetery is composed of finds decorated with the 2nd German serrated animal style. The Avars borrowed this ornament from a style favoured by the Germans and decorated the depictions with so-called 'serration 'which made them Avar.

The classic and up to now nicest products of the Avarized animal ornamentation are the Jankovich golds. The objects in the Zamardi cemetery made in the same style are close in the quality to the standard of these goldsmith's products made of pure gold. Up to now, about 100 graves contained finds decorated with the 2nd German serrated animal style. The decoration of German origin can be found on belt sets, horse harness decorations and female jewels as arm-rings, finger-rings, also on shoe strap terminals and the leather strip mounts of caskets, etc.

The German animal style can also be found in the Avar cemetery of Zamardi without serration. These and other products made by German craftsmen must have served as prototypes for the Avar craftsmen or goldsmiths who worked for the Avars. At the same time, the prototypes of serration can be observed on belt mounts of Byzantine type and belt mounts with geometric plaited ornaments in the early graves.

Serration itself was very important for the Avars as it is clearly demonstrated by the large strap terminal in grave No. 1280. with precious stone inlay and niello ornamentation made of gilded silver.The lower part of the belt mount is decorated with the classical 2nd style which was not made by an Avar craftsman. The upper articulated mount must have been injured and the substitution was already made in Avar style with serration (the closest analogue of the original belt mount is the finds of the Arnegiindis grave in St. Denis).

Finds decorated with the 2nd style can be divided into the items of the Avar and the other than Avar costume, and it means more than simple ornamentation (e.g. belt structure, the strapping of wooden caskets, the shapes of the strap terminals, the character of female costume).

The compositions, the seemingly complicated depictions of the 2nd German serrated animal style can always be reduced, in the course of the analysis, into a single basic plait pattern, the rest is adapted to this pattern (design by Laszlo Hornyak, graphic artist). The Avar type animal ornamentation is built on the Mediterranean plait decoration which became incorporated into the Avar and the Langobard art.

A local, more barbaric variety of this artistic style was born in the first half of the 7th c, which might as well be called 'the Zamardi school'.

The flourishing period of the style can be dated from the end of the 6th c. to the last third of the 7th century and it survived in a 'deteriorated' variety after 670-680. The new fashion appearing at the end of the 7th century, the engraved and pounced plaited ornament displays traces of contacts, probably the same craftsmen worked for the new customers. Serration survived in a modified manner on the plaits in the shape of a herringbone pattern. The animal shapes disappear, although the 8-shape motive characteristic of the 2nd German serrated animal style appears on the small strap terminals is decorated with pounced patterns instead of serration.

The folding iron stools of the cemetery refer to Italy under Byzantine rule or influence. Inlaid iron stools have been unearthed so far in five graves of the cemetery (grave Nos. 121, 565, 1049, 2000 and 2030). The whole number of analogues of the type does not amount to more than ten in the whole Europe (England, France, Hungary, Italy). So rarity lends the chairs extra value.

The surfaces of the hammered iron stools were decorated with silver, bronze and brass inlays. The motives reflect the bliss of the past Antiquity. They were probably made in Late Antique workshops of the 6tth-7th centuries and were mostly found in the graves of the 'barbarian' peoples of the Migration Period.

Similarly to the cast bronze dishes, the folding iron stools were found in the area of the Byzantine cultural circle: Breny 1 piece, Annecy 1 piece in France, the island of Sardis 2 pieces, 6 pieces in the Langobard cemetery of Nocera Umbra in Italy and 1 piece in England. (The item from Ticino, also in Italy, was made in the 8th-9th centuries, while the stool kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum came from the llth-12th. centuries).

Only two cemeteries of the Migration Period within the Carpathian Basin yielded inlaid iron stools, Kolked-Feketekapu (excavated by Attila Kiss, Hungarian National Museum, 2 pp.) and Zamdrdi.

The surfaces of the hammered iron stools are decorated with late Antique motives, meander, swastika, herring-bone pattern, tendril with leaves, wavy lines, hounds etc. On two stools from Zamardi, crosses also appears. Comparing the published stools from Kolked-Feketekapu and those from Zamardi, we can deduce that they came from the same workshop and some pieces were probably made by the same craftsman.

The contemporary sources tell us about contacts between Italy and the Avar Empire. The Avars and the Langobards together defeated the Gepids in 567. The Langobards left Pannonia for Italy with the promise of eternal peace. According to the documents, varied political and economic contact existed from the beginning between the two powers. Beside the economic contact, the Avar-Langobard relations were multidimensional. We know that shipwrights arrived to the Avar kagan from Italy. The 2nd serrated German animal style indicates a deeper contact, a longer residence: Langobard goldsmiths worked for Avar customers. We should also count with Germans who fled to the Avars and lived with them. The contemporary sources mention thousands of captives carried off after sieges and wars and settled by the victorious kagan within his Empire. The place where they were settled was always in Panonia that is, west of the Danube.

It is also in Pannonia where Kuber and his people arrived after 670/680.

It has been accepted that new population waves arrived from the East in the Avar Empire around 670/680.

After the death of Kuvrat, Bulgarian khan, onogur Bulgars fleeing from the Kazars settled in the Carpathian Basin together -with other populational groups who had joined them. Their leader was Kuber, Kuvrat's fourth son. The borders of the Avar Empire also changed. New cemeteries, new customs, new art began. How is this reflected in the cemetery at Zamardi? The same order is kept in the cemetery, there seems to have been no break in the life of the community. The direction of the graves somewhat changes along the axis, they are more aligned with North. The bottom of the grave pit is deeper at the feet and the head. The horses are buried in the same way in a separate pit but the harness changes. The stirrups have straight footing, the bow bones are broader and the mouthpiece appears. The joining of the forehead and face straps is covered with cast and richly gilt bronze phaleras. The head of the horse is decorated with caparison. The belt mounts are made of silver, gilt silver of bronze sheets, their surfaces are decorated with plait motives often inlaid with precious stones. The graves of women contain byzantine type earrings, torques decorated with so-called hullas. The characteristic find of the female graves is the so-called cast bronze decorative disc both with plait and griffon and tendril motives. The burial cross made of a sheet is also a frequent grave good. They are usually cut from silver or bronze sheet, decorated with embossing and the terminals are widening. They are placed into the two ends of the grave to the head and the feet.

These Christian symbols can be related to the dead. They are not simply objects but represent a phenomenon, a custom as well.

The early Avars had met various Christian teachings (Manicheus, Nestorian teachings) before arriving in the Carpathian Basin, and after their settlement Arianism might also have influenced them, still, they were fundamentally pagans and they remained so. This is testified by the unearthed cemeteries and documents of the Antiquity about the Avars. The contemporary sources characterize them as nomadic, barbarian, pagan, godless. Very little is known about the religious life of the early Avars of the Bajan period.

Tire, water, and sword are important elements of the pagan oath. Bajan's oath of Avar customs cites an ancient tradition, the cult of the sword. Before the siege of Sirmium, Bajan „...immediately drew his sword and swore according to the Avar cuss: he put a curse on himself and the whole of  Avar people if he planned to build the bridge tnrer the Sava from manipulation against the Romans. He should die of sword together with the whole of the Avar people, the heaven and god who nrsides in the heaven should send fire on them..."

A Late hagiographic piece, the Vita Sancti Pancratii, from the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries cites their relation to pagan forces. Bajan's second battle with Sigibert Frank king was around 566 and 567 about which we can read: ,,When it came to the battle, they, being accustomed to magic practices, showed them various ghostly shapes and overcame them by far."

The Miracula Sancti Demetrii, telling about the siege of Thessalonike describes the Avars as wild and bloodthirsty people who ,,do not know the only true god". The Kagan, according to the Byzantine chronicle writer, speaks about his own gods and the god of the Christians. The Vita Sanctii Pancratii writes about them: ,,We are Avar people and worship the depictions of all types of crawling and four-legged creatures as gods. At the same time, we offer sacrifice to the fire, the water and the sword." Theophylactus's story about Simocatta Bookolabrus proves that the Avars had shamans.

According to the descriptions by Theophanes and Nicephorus patriarch ICuvrat's fourth son crossed the Danube ,,and resides in Pannonia which is now under Avar rule and he is a subordinate to these local people. According to Theophanes' description ,,he became a subordinate to the Kagan of the Avars and stayed there together with his army".

According to the Miracula Sancti Demetrii from the end of the 7th century, a Bulgarian prince, Kuber, became a subordinate to the Avar kagan in the second half of the 670's, he was his lieutenant, then leaving the kaganate left for the area of Thessalonike. The equestrian in Madara, an inscription engraved in a rock at about 705 tells about a son of Kuvrat, who is a historical personality in the region of Thessaloniki. Due to research made by Samu Szadeczky-ICardoss it seems certain that the various sources tell about the same person, ICuvrat's fourth son, Kuber.

The kagan is said to have settled hundred thousands of captives beyond Sirmiensis in Pannonia, on the left side of the Danube. They lived mixed with Avars and Bulgarians. Their children kept their Christian religion. Later, they were liberated and the kagan regarded them an independent people. He elected Kuber their leader.

Kuvrat, Kuber's father was Christian, and probably educated his sons in this belief regarding his Byzantinofil character. The great princely burials dated from the time of Kuvrat's burial (Maloje Pereshchepino, Kelegeiskie hutora, Zachepilovka, Glodos) are rich in Byzantine jewels and contain Byzantine crosses.

In 678, we meet the new Avar leaders at Emperor Constantine IV.'s court to greet him on the occasion of his victory over the Arabs.

Around 687, the English Church listed the Avars among the people to be christianized. Saint Rupert, according to a late revised biography, wanted to christianize the Avars as early as the 690's. (According the Samu Szadeczky-Kardoss this is a later and intentional addition). The crosses in the Avar cemetery at Zamardi testify-that there used to exist communities in Pannonia affected by christianizm, similarly as we have to consider the survival of Roman relict population in Pannonia on the other side of the Balaton, the Chistian, late Antique population of the Keszthely culture.

Charles the Great initiated his war against the Avars in 791 under the sign of the cross.

The characteristic finds of the burials at the end of the 7th, and in the 8th centuries are the already mentioned cast bronze filigreed decorative disks. They are usually found in female burials, sometime with men too, as strap dividers. The female dressing can be characterized with unmounted belts held together with iron or bronze buckles. The large strap terminal made of sheet is found nearly between the two ankles. The disks hanged from a leather suspended from the belt. They were worn on the left side, sometimes 2, 3 or 4 of them. We can often find an iron key, an iron knife, a spindle whorl or a needle-case beside them. Their jewels contained large sized, uplifted spheroid and dodecahedral silver and bronze earrings with pendants which are carefully executed Byzantine type works. Their execution is very similar to the basket-shaped earrings of the Keszthely culture. The two handled iron cutting tool is also frequently met in graves, it must have served some land of kitchen purpose.

The disks can have geometric, plant, animal and human shaped decoration. Those decorated with plant motives are highly stylised, the characteristic elements are the achantus and the palmette of the Byzantine art. The animal shapes often dis-pLay griffons, snakes or birds. The most beautiful pieces are the ones decorated with the tree of life, which also goes back to Byzantine prototypes. One piece has been found with human depiction, it is a disk decorated with a riding man.

Regarding their function, they could have been decorative disks, strap dividers or looped pendants. It can be supposed only in a few cases that they really decorated the pouch. The straps with which they were suspended from the belt were often decorated with rectangular cast or sheet mounts.

West of the Carpathian Basin, in Bajuvar, Aleman or Frank regions, bronze disks were common parts of the dressing. West of us, this fashion flourished in the 7th century. The same arrived at the Avars at the end of the 7th and the first half of the 8th centuries. The decorative disks of the Avar cemeteries at Tiszafiired and Zamardi are astonishingly similar. The disk as an elements of the costume can be found East of us as well in the Caucasus.

As we have already mentioned, the burial crosses are frequent in the graves with disks. The position of the vessels in the graves is nearly totally pushed back by the application of Christian symbols. The population at the end of the 7th century-showed a great affinity to Christian teachings. The Christian symbol goes well with the pagan beliefs. The disks, which played protective role and served to avert the evil forces can be found in the graves together with the cross. The joint application of the symbols of two different spheres of beliefs is a good example to the syncretism characteristic of the period.

The cemetery was continuously used after the 670/680's, no break can be observed. (Most of the burials unearthed so far come from this period). The burial of the population with griffon and tendril decoration can be found in coherent groups or scattered among other graves in the E and W ends of the cemetery. They are represented by rich graves with horse burial, gilt bronze belt mounts with griffon and tendril ornament. The horses are buried with cast gilt silver phaleras and stirrups with straight footing. The head of the horses was decorated with caparison and filigreed nose ornaments cut from sheet.

In one of the separately placed Late Avar group of graves of the cemetery, the cast bronze mounts show the winged crowned lions of the Nagyszentmiklos treasure, those depicted on jugs 2. and 7., which suggests a dating of production of the treasure in the Late Avar period.

The northern and southern fragments of the cemetery have not yet been unearthed. One third of the excavated material is restored. The metal material from about 600 graves has been restored by Mrs. Lajos Vdmosi since 1980. The 5 inlaid iron stools were restored by Peter Horvdth, which was allowed by a fund of 1.700.000 Ft from the National Cultural Fund. It is due to this support that we can present the five inlaid iron stools and some of the finds decorated with the 2nd German animal style. The ceramic material of the cemetery-was restored by Klara Marton and Agnes Nagy. The wooden casket was reconstructed by Katalin Bruder, Hungarian National Museum.

The restoration, drawing, photo documentation of the find material and the analysis of the bone material cannot be carried out without external financial support. The excavator would like to launch a public foundation to rescue the huge find material from destruction and to carry out the tasks necessary for the analysis.

The excavations between 1980 and 1997 were financed with 1,2 million Fts by the Center of Museums in Somogy county and 8 million Fts by the General Assembly of Zamdrdi. The unearthed part of the cemetery will hopefully survive owing to the overall archaeological protection.

Edith Bardos

archaeologist

(Translated by K. Siman)

List of figures:

1-2. Gold 20 siliquia solidus of Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine (obverse and reverse sides)

3. A pair of large sherical gold ear rings with granulated decoration

4. Gold earrings "with spherical pendant gold earring

5. Silver inlaid cast bronze jug

6. Glass jug

7. Cast bronze dish

8. Early Avar grey ceramics

9. Folding iron stool decorated with brass inlay

10-11-12. Decorative patterns on the folding iron stools.

13. Early Avar stirrups and spear

14. Gilded bronze bridle mounts during excavation

15. Horse burial from the 7th c.

16. Reconstruction of a wooden casket decorated with gilded silver mounts displaying human face depiction

17. Double burial

18. Early Avar string of beads

19-20-21. Gilded silver and bronze large strap ends decorated with the 2nd German animal style

22. Gilded bronze belt buckle decorated with the 2nd German serrated animal style

23. Silver shoe strap terminals

24. Small strap terminal made of pressed bronze sheet decorated with the 2nd German animal style

25. Analytical design of a depiction in the 2nd German animal style (Laszlo Hornyak, graphic artist)

26. Engraved and pounced gilded silver large strap terminal with plait ornament

27. Pressed silver sheet large strap terminal with plait ornament

28. Silver earring with granulated decoration and uplifted pendant

29. Bronze earring with uplifted dodecahedral pendant

30. Gilded bronze belt mount with griffon motive

31.-32.-33. Gilded bronze bridle roses

34. Bronze decorative disc "with akhantus leaves

35. Bronze mounts of a discoid strapping

36. Bronze decorative disc with the depiction of the tree of life

37. Bronze decorative disc with plant ornament

38. Bronze decorative disc with the figure of a rider

39. Decorative disc with stylized animal fight

40. Decorative disk with swastika built of snakes

41 -42.-43. Filigreed large strap terminals with Late Avar griffon and tendril motives

44. Aerial photo of the excavation (1984)

45. Cast bronze mount with the figure of the winged, flame-crowned lion