Funerary textiles in the Avar Period
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22138208 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zsófia Básti (0000-0003-1766-798X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 28-34 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Hungarian Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2416-0296 • E-ISSN: 2416-0296 |
| Publisher | Hungarian Archaeology (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.36338/ha.2022.4.2 |
| OpenAlex | W4382060030 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
Early Middle Age textile remains are few in the Carpathian Basin; moreover, most are impregnated by corrosion and poorly preserved. A systematic collection and evaluation of the related findings, however, might provide the research on fashion, commerce, and funerary rites with a valuable contribution. Coffin-related nails, metal fittings, and decorative mounts from Avar Period graves represent an interesting source of information, as their surfaces often preserved remains or imprints of textiles, thus indicating (by their relative positions in the graves) the covering of the coffins with sheets of fabric. This custom was present in Inner Asia, appearing in burials of the Xiongnu and the Chinese, but also in coeval Europe (see, for example, graves of the Frank and Italian elite); besides, examples can also be cited from the ethnographic record. In summary, covering the coffin with sheets or lining them with silk was in practice at many times and places and cannot be linked only to distinct peoples or areas. While the available analogies suggest that the textiles used for funerary purposes were usually expensive, the examples from the Carpathian Basin are not related to elite burials
Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Coffin · Elite · Geography · Late period · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Law
| Highly cited | No |
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