New results on horse trappings from the Hunnic-period Carpathian Basin based on non-destructive archaeometric analyses
Volume 28 (2021), pp. 25–38
Pub. online: 29 December 2021
Type: Article
Open Access
Open Access
Received
21 April 2021
21 April 2021
Revised
13 August 2021
13 August 2021
Accepted
20 September 2021
20 September 2021
Published
29 December 2021
29 December 2021
Abstract
Objects manufactured from pressed gold, gilded silver or copper alloy plates are characteristic assemblages
from the Late Hunnic period (5th century AD, 420/430). In this study, horse trappings
that belong to the ‘pressed gold plate horizon’ from three archaeological sites in the Carpathian
Basin (Léva, Nyíregyháza-Oros and Pécsüszög) were analysed non-destructively by using a handheld
X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The main aims were to determine the chemical composition
and the gilding technique used, and to attempt to prove whether the groups in an assemblage
are from the same set. The results of the chemical analyses give us the opportunity to confirm
whether damaged or presumably lost objects of an assemblage were replaced or repaired. According
to the results obtained, the objects were manufactured from gold (Pécsüszög), gilded silver
(Nyíregyháza-Oros) or gilded unalloyed copper plates (Léva). Later, replacements can be distinguished
based on their chemical composition and manufacturing quality. Two types of gilding
were observed: fire gilding with the presence of mercury (Léva), and leaf gilding (Nyíregyháza-
Oros).