Gepids

In this article it is attempted to survey historical developments from 379 through 568 A. D. in the territory of the two southern Pannonian Roman provinces established under the Emperor Diocletian, i.e. Pannonia Secunda or Sirmiensis and Pannonia Savia. The period between the Antiquity and the Middle Ages was marked in Pannonia by a series of short-lived ascendancies of several barbarian conglomerates dominated by various Germanic peoples (Goths, Gepids, Lombards) and by Huns.

The period characterised by the coexistence of Late Antiquity and the beginning of the Early Middle Ages, in its turn distinguished by migrations of Barbarian tribes, is one of the most intriguing epochs in the history of Europe. Cultural production and social organisation of the 5th and 6th centuries left their strong mark on this period, but also on Europe’s modern outlook.
Since the context for most of the finds is unknown, the spatial and temporal distribution of particular Barbarian peoples in the territory of modern-day Croatia can be defined only in combination with historical literary sources. Nevertheless, even this poor state of research allows the interpretation of the data as suggesting a high assimilation rate of Barbarian peoples by the late Roman cultural frame.

In this seminar paper written in english I focus on the interpretation of the ornaments of some archaeological finds from the 6th and 7th century Carpathian Basin in the context of germanic mythology. The discussion is about bird shaped brooches, germanic bracteates and the decoration of one particular find, the belt buckle from the 85th grave of the early 7th cemetery at Kölked-Feketekapu B. By this I am hoping to give a few clues as to how did the mythology look like for the germanic peoples living in the Carpathian basin at this time, compared to the later written sources about nordic mythology.

The paper is aimed at presenting and discussing anew the textual and archaeological evidence pertaining to the presence of Gepids in southern Pannonia during much of the sixth century. The intention is to re-examine available sources, redress current interpretations and provide new insights. The first focus is on the military and diplomatic affairs that are reconstructed based mainly on the contemporary narratives, bearing in mind their complex nature as products of specific sociopolitical, ideological and cultural contexts. Building upon what can be discerned from the literary sources, it is argued that the Gepids pursued a consistent policy with a goal to establish and maintain themselves as a recognized regional power and make possible for their ruling elite to acquire benefits and concessions from the Empire same as any other group that had settled in Roman territory. The second focus is on the material evidence that might provide glimpses into how the Gepids tried to organize the life in the former Roman province and what the living conditions were for Roman and non-Roman populations, as well as help define the spatial extent of the Gepids' domain in southern Pannonia.

This thesis examines the evidence surrounding the Battle of Nedao, an engagement between Ardaric, leader of the Gepids and other rebelling tribes, and Ellac, the eldest son of Attila. It argues against the claim that, after Attila’s death, it was the sons of Attila who ruined the Hunnic empire through civil war. Instead, the political crisis which inevitably led to the battle was brought about by Attila’s murdering of his brother and co-king, Bleda, in 445 and his intestate death in 453. If there was civil war between Attila’s sons, it did not occur until after Nedao. Furthermore,
Ardaric was not of Royal Hunnic status fighting for succession at Nedao. He was, instead, one of the leaders of a rebellion that was not necessarily limited to Germanic tribes. 

The thesis focuses primarily on one source, Jordanes, since his Getica is the only known account of the battle which is not mentioned by any other contemporary source. The paper analyzes both Jordanes as an author and the language in his Getica, finding him not to be the semiliterate copyist of Cassiodorus, but instead underlines his own agency in the organizing of the work. From this broader understanding of Jordanes and Getica, it furthermore determines that he may, in fact, harbor an anti-Gepid sentiment towards the Gepid kingdom of his own day in the sixth century. Jordanes may, therefore, be anachronistically ascribing strength and importance to the Gepids’ role at Nedao, as Gepid-Constantinopolitan tension reached its zenith at the time he composed his work, thereby critically affecting our interpretation of the Battle of Nedao narrative.

The aim of this study is to investigate the transition between Hunnic and Gepidic period on the basis of female burials in the Middle Danube Region. The analysis of burial practices, female dress accessories and artificial skull deformation prove that there was a continuous cultural transformation during the 5 th century, not a radical change. The power structure changed in the middle of the century but it didn't cause the disappearance of the phenomena which formed from the beginning of the century. The new female representation that emerged after the end of Roman rule in the Carpathian basin can be widely observed from a geographical as well as from a social point of view. The early graves of the Gepidic cemeteries (Reihengräberfelder) fit perfectly in the general archaeological features of the 5 th century.

Vida, T.: “Christianity in the Carpathian Basin during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (5th to 8th century ad)”, In: E. Tóth/T. Vida/I.  Takács I. (eds.), Saint Martin and Pannonia. Christianity on the Frontiers of the Roman World. Pannonhalma-Szombathely 2016, 93-106.

The extraordinary grave of the Early Migration Period warrior from Juszkowo, Pruszcz Gdański com.
During excavations held by the Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk in July 2010 at Juszkowo, near Pruszcz Gdański, an isolated grave from the Early Migration Period was found apart from numerous features from the Early Iron Age, Roman, Medieval and modern periods. It was an inhumation grave of an approximately 30 year old male, equipped with a long double‑edged sword: the so called Asian spathae. The weapon has a lot of parallels in the areas inhabited by the Huns and subordinated peoples like the Alans or the Gepids. Such a form of sword was also proved for regions reached by Barbarian armies led
by the Huns, i.e. in western or southern Europe. However, the find from Juszkowo is unique so far to the north. Additionally, a sword bead of amber was documented in the Juszkowo grave, which is a quite typical
addition to an Asian spatha. The next element of grave furnishing was an iron brooch representing the Hăneşti type or a late form of crossbow fibulas (a tendril or with solid catch‑plate). Furthermore, a belt buckle of gilded bronze with silver inlays was spotted in the grave furnishing. It belongs to the Strzegocice‑Tiszaládány‑Kercz type, known from a wide zone between the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea with particular concentrations in the middle Danube basin and Pannonia. The interment from Juszkowo should be dated to phase D2. It was a period of the abandonment in the area in question: the earlier settlement of the Wielbark culture ceased to exist. Moreover, the Wielbark culture burial rites excluded weapons fromgrave equipment. Therefore the question arises: who was buried at Juszkowo? In trying to answer this question, the authors suggest taking into consideration the possible return of warriors fighting in the south, submitted to the Huns, but also other possibilities, e.g., the existence of military outposts organized by the Huns to control the region, important to maintain contact with Scandinavia.

The history of the Carpathian Basin during the first two thirds of the sixth century was moulded by the intricate, oft-changing relationship between the Gepids and the Langobards. In addition to the political and diplomatic connections recorded in the historical sources, the archaeological record attests to other dimensions of the relations between these two powers. The present study seeks to identify the artefacts with connections in the Tisza region appearing among the Transdanubian finds of the Langobard period, and the types with Transdanubian and Western European parallels among the contemporaneous find assemblages of the Tisza region. The similarities outline a system of intricate and multifaceted relations between the Gepids and the Langobards in the sixth century. These connections cannot always be automatically equated with trade transactions – very often, we are dealing with ad hoc events or individual interactions. Some broad tendencies can nevertheless be outlined.

A group of silver Early Byzantine coins of the second half of the 6th century poorly known in archaeological (but not numismatic) circles is characterized by an obverse depiction of a winged bust (en face) with an aureole around the head, and a reverse depiction of a large cross with a semicircle (aureole or a domed arch / ciborium,
tabernacle, canopy) and a circle at the base (the head of Adam or the grave of Christ),
and a small cross on each side. The unnamed winged bust on the obverse is surrounded by a border of beads, and the group of three crosses on the reverse with a wreath of stylized pinebranches. The described coins are unique and without any analogies in the minting production of the period to which they belong. The winged
bust on the obverse was long ago recognized as the figure of an angel, first unnamed, and later identified as the Archangel Michael, while the image of the three crosses on the reverse was first considered to represent the monogram of the Lombard King Cleph, and only lately as a highly simplified depiction of the scene of the Crucifixion
of Christ on Golgotha/Calvary. The Christianization of the obverse and reverse points to the powerful “non-monetary” character of the coinage of the Angel/Golgotha type (also cited according to the first sites of discovery: the Kranj-Rifnik group), while the apotropaic quality of these images predisposed them to be used for phylacteric and amuletic purposes as well. Hence it is likely that the Angel/Golgotha coin type was minted in specific circumstances and for the needs of a local community, depicting
on one side the Archangel Michael, the leader of the heavenly army, the protector of Byzantium and the emperor in Constantinople (Angel – obverse), and emphasizing, on the other hand, the triumph of Christ over death in the dogmatic sense (Golgotha – reverse). The numismatic characteristics of this coinage and its basic features are congruent with the Gepid coinage of the Sirmium mint minted during the reign of their King Cunimund (ca. 560 – 567), and the first years of the reign of the Byzantine
Emperor Justin II (565 – 578). In that period, the year 567 was particularly important for Byzantium and the local Gepid-Romanic community in Pannonia Sirmiensis, when promptly after the Gepid collapse in the war against the Lombards, the Byzantine army captured Sirmium, and after almost 80 years was once again in charge of the city. Immediately afterwards, in the spring of 568, the Byzantine military commander (Bonus) was forced to resist a months-long Avar siege of Sirmium, but ultimately managed to defend the city. In such special circumstances, the Byzantine
administration minted coinage of the Angel/ Golgotha type (the Kranj-Rifnik group), while the siege and the horrors of war resonated further, also being recorded on the famous Sirmium engraved brick (in the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb).

It hаs long been known that after the year 568 parts of the Germanic population were to be left within the limits of the newly-formed Avar Khaganate. This is best confirmed on large and thoroughly excavated sites, particularly in the cemeteries and the settlement at Kölked-Feketekapu. In the south of the Avar Khaganate, present-day northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, there is only a limited number of finds to testify to that effect. In this article, we are going to discuss a group of very interesting finds from Aradac (Aradka), and to list other finds of Germanic origin from this territory, coming from Bečej (Óbecse) and Bogojevo (Gombos). A special emphasis will be placed on the dating of these grave-finds.

Within the limits of the Late Antique and Early Medieval settlement in Kabyle, barbaric materials with a wide time range (4th – late 6th century) have been detected. The earliest artefacts bear the characteristics of the culture Chernyakhov – Sântana de Mureş. These are fragments of pottery with specific decoration of polished lines (Fig. 1.1-3) and a bone comb (Fig. 2.1). After the time of Hunnic domination, more items of foreign origin were detected: a bone comb (Fig. 2.2) and two different fibulae (Fig. 3.1-2). The latest evidence of barbarian presence is a fragment of a so-called "Slavic" fibula with human mask (Fig. 3.3).
The foreign presence at the site is not accidental. Kabyle was periodically inhabited by different ethnic groups (artefacts of German origin predominate). A similar situation is observed at many neighbouring sites that also yielded barbaric materials. It remains unclear what was the status of this population, both at Kabyle and in the region. Presumably, some of the artefacts appeared after invasions, but others could have belonged to groups that were allowed to settle in Thrace in result of military or commercial treaties and relations.

The transformation of the settlement pattern of the 5th century in the Hungarian Plain could not be directly linked to historical events and may be reconstructed as a mosaic-like, longer process.
Large-scale Gepidic period settlements are known nowadays from different regions, which could form an adequate basis towards a regional research and pottery analysis. On the other hand, the systematic topographical research of the Tisza region is uneven and patchy.
The study provides insight into various research topics of different regions. The general notion “Gepidic” is used as a chronological concept (late 5th – early 6th centuries AD) referring to the archaeological material of the Hungarian Plain and the eastern Carpathian region.

More than ninety years have passed since the Croatian numismatist Josip Brunšmid, followed by his Austrian colleague Friedrich Stefan, presented several examples of unusual silver coins found in the southern part of what was once Late Roman Pannonia to the professional public. According to them, during the first and second thirds of the 6th century, up to 567 or 568 in Sirmium, the administrative and economic center of the province eastern Pannonia Sirmiensis, this coinage had initially been minted by the Ostrogoths (Stefan), and subsequently by the Gepids (Brunšmid). From 1924 and 1925, when the above opinions were first introduced into numismatic circles, new thoughts and theories on this subject have only rarely and indeed only occasionally appeared, along with mere supplementation or refurbishment of the original ideas. Parallel with this, for decades, the number of published examples of coins minted in Sirmium only gradually increased. During the past twenty years though, it has increased greatly, with several hundred examples known today, primarily documented on the internet. The greatest profit from such a large number of coins was seen by the auction houses, followed by various theory-led numismatic typologies, while even today very little is known about the circulation of the Ostrogothic-Gepidic coinage from Sirmium. Today, they are known as the “Sirmium group”, but very little has actually been written about this. Hence on this occasion it would be useful in the light of several new/old finds to consider in more detail various problems and information about distribution and circulation of the “Sirmium group” coins.

The Kleinschelken find (Transylvania, 1856) in the light of newly rediscovered archival records. Contemporary researchers agree that the deposit containing Byzantine solidi, a silver brooch and a gold earring, discovered by accident 1856 within a small settlement of Transylvanian Saxons represents the first archaeological find from the Gepid age recorded in the Carpathian Basin but they disagree about the circumstances of discovery of the hoard and its character. The difference of opinion stems from the fact that reports available to modern research made at the time of discovery contain contradictory information on the subject of what had been discovered, when and where, in 1856 in commune Kleinschelken (Romanian Şeica Mică). The fact that the silver brooch as well as the gold earring entered the collection of the Münz-und Antikenkabinett in Vienna suggests – if one bears in mind the instructions of 1776, 1782, 1812 on measures to be taken in case of hoards of ornaments or coins discovered on the territory of the Habsburg monarchy – that the find from the Transylvanian Kleinschelken must have passed the full system of imperial bureaucracy. Traces of their activity should survive in the form of official protocols. Already in the first description of the find, published by M. Ackner in a local newspaper we find a reference to a report from the head the Marktschelken commune (Romanian Şeica Mare) which the author of the article drew his information from. Ackner also reports that 16 gold coins discovered at Kleinschelken are held by the commune authority and suggests that " all of the discovered gold coins are to be sent to the imperial and royal Statthalterei in Hermannstadt, for inspection and determination ". Next to M. Ackner's article and a report written for the Central-Commission by one S. Mökesch, F. Kenner also drew on official reports about the deposit of interest. He does not state this directly but considering F. Kenner's position of the Keeper of Münz-und Antikenkabinett there is no doubt that he had access to official reports on the subject of the discovery made at Kleinschelken. Basing on the above evidence it was determined that the reports used both by Ackner and Kenner at present are found respectively, in the archive of imperial and royal Statthalterei von Siebenbürgen (Magyar Országos Levéltár Budapest) and in the archive of the Münz-und Antikenkabinett (Kunsthistorisches Museum Antikensammlung Wien). Several documents concerning the find Kleinschelken are in keeping of the archive of Oberstkämmereramts (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv Haus-, Hof-und Staatsarchiv Wien). Only the attempt to access the reports of the Marktschelken commune authority (Arhivele Naţionale Sibiu) was not successful. Fortunately the newly rediscovered archival records are sufficient for making a comprehensive and unambiguous reconstruction of circumstances of discovery of the coins and ornaments. In addition, analysis of documents also established that several specimens of solidi discovered 1856 are at present held by the collection Schwarzenberg in the castle of Orlík nad Vltavou and the Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Analysis of the surviving coins and PÉTER SOMOGYI DER FUND VON KLEINSCHELKEN (SIEBENBÜRGEN, 1856) IM LICHTE NEUENTDECKTER ARCHIVDATEN

Tra Ostrogoti e Longobardi: la monetazione argentea dei Gepidi
L’articolo riguarda le monete d’argento attribuite ai Gepidi. La conoscenza di questa monetazione, molto limitata fino a un paio di decenni fa, ora può essere affinata grazie alle risorse online, che ci permettono di conoscere centinaia di nuovi esemplari emessi dai Gepidi e alcuni rinvenimenti inediti. Questi dati permettono di identificare interessanti sequenze di coni e quindi di comprendere meglio la struttura di questa monetazione. Se già era chiaro il rapporto con la moneta d’argento ostrogota, ora si può supporre un legame anche con i Longobardi: le ultime emissioni gepidiche sostituiscono il busto imperiale sul dritto con un mezzo busto frontale di una figura nimbata e alata che potrebbe essere la prima  rappresentazione monetaria di San Michele nell’Europa post-antica.

Between Ostrogoths and Lombards: the Silver Coinage of the Gepids
This paper focuses on the silver coinage ascribed to the Gepids. The knowledge of this coinage, very limited until a couple of decades ago, can now be improved thanks to online resources, which let us know about hundreds of new coins issued by the Gepids, and some new coin finds. These data allow us to identify interesting die-sequences and consequently to better understand the structure of this coinage. Although the relationship with the Ostrogothic silver coinage was already clear, now a link with the Lombards can be supposed: the last Gepidic issues replaced the imperial bust on the obverse with a frontal half-bust of a nimbate and winged figure that could be the first monetary representation of St Michael in post-Roman Europe.

Zwischen Ostgoten und Langobarden: die Silbermünzprägung der Gepiden
Im Mittelpunkt des Beitrags steht die Silbermünzprägung, die den Gepiden zugeschrieben wird. Unser Wissen über diese Münzen war bis vor ein paar Jahrzehnten sehr beschränkt; doch nun ist es dank der Onlineressourcen gewachsen, die Hunderte von neuen Exemplaren der Gepiden und sogar unedierte Funde bekannt gemacht haben. Diese Daten erlauben, interessante Münzstempel-Sequenzen zu identifizieren und dadurch die Struktur dieser Münzprägung besser zu verstehen. Ein Zusammenhang mit der Silbermünzprägung der Ostgoten war bereits offensichtlich, doch nun lässt sich auch ein Bezug zu den Langobarden vermuten: Die letzten Prägungen der Gepiden ersetzen die Kaiserbüste auf der Vorderseite mit einer frontalen halben Büste einer nimbierten und geflügelten Figur, welche die erste Münzdarstellung des heiligen Michael im nachantiken Europa sein dürfte. (Übersetzung: J. Chameroy)

The main set of questions discussed in the thesis within historical aspects focuses on the 5th-century settlement network on the Great Hungarian Plain and on its chronological changes. Regarding the settlements, the number of distinctive chronological horizons is smaller than of the historical phases. These chronological horizons are usually defined as late Sarmatian–Hunnic and Gepidic. These horizons inevitably give broader archaeological frames including the end of the Sarmatian period, the Hunnic period and the Gepidic Kingdom, lasting altogether from the late 4th until the mid-6th century.

This is the first conference volume focused on the history, archaeology, onomatology, coinage, craftsmanship, and settlements of the Gepidic Kingdom in the Tisza Region, Sirmium, and Transylvania. The heritage of the Gepidic period is presented through the most recent archaeological discoveries. Various aspects of the cultural contacts of the Gepids, as discussed in the book, shed light on their connections to European and Byzantine cultures, their relationship with the Langobards, as well as their beliefs and religion.

Tivadar Vida – Dieter Quast – Zsófia Rácz – István Koncz (Hrsg./Eds.), Gepids after the Fall of the Hun Empire Collapse - Reorganization – Continuity. Tagungsakten  der Internationalen Konferenz
an der Eötvös Loránd Universität, Budapest, 14. - 15. Dezember 2015 / Proceedings of the International Conference at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 14th - 15th December 2015. Budapest, 2019.

The paper discusses a fragment of a Léva/Levice-Prša type brooch from Rákóczifalva-Bagi-földek 8A, a site which was inhabited during the 4th–6th centuries AD. This brooch fragment should be regarded as a rare, typologically late variant of the discussed type. This type was connected in the former research to Alanic, Ostrogothic, Suebian, Herulian, and Gepidic ethnicity. The exemplars from the Hungarian Plain do not support any theory, because they originate from burials with different cultural context (cemetery type, orientation, costume, etc.). In the distribution map of the Levice–Prša type brooches more unpublished, new finds are mentioned.