Description
The Nagyszentmiklós treasure is the finest gold find of early medieval Central Europe. It was discovered in 1799, and since then countless scientific works have dealt with it. The 23 vessels found in the Vienna treasury are unparalleled in terms of shape and decoration; its inscriptions have not yet been deciphered in a convincing way. For this reason, the age of the treasure's creation is unclear, which partly depends on which nation it may have belonged to.
Bálint Csanád examined the group of finds with the eyes of an archaeologist and art historian, studying the originals on several occasions. The research brought the treasure into contact with the East, so the author took a long look at Eurasia and Byzantium V–X. in the literature dealing with 19th century archeology and art. Thanks to this, a summary was created for the first time that presents the metalware crafts of early medieval Iran, Central Asia, the Arab Caliphate, China, Byzantium, the Eurasian steppe and the Carpathian basin together.
Two popular theories about the origin of the treasure can be easily dismissed, because the vessels are completely different from the findings and ornamentation of the Danube Bulgarians (9th century) and the conquering Hungarians (10th century). On the other hand, a long series of small matches can be shown with the Avar archaeological material, decoration method and goldsmithing technique. Based on this, it can be concluded that the Nagyszentmiklós treasure is a VII-VIII. It was owned by an Avar (part) princely family in the 19th century.
The book not only provides photographic material on the vessels of the treasure, but also presents a complete overview of early medieval Eurasian metal vessel finds and representations. An index of personal names and site names helps you navigate the material covered in the book.
