Macaristan’daki Peçeneklerin tarihine dair arkeolojik veriler: Genel bir değerlendirme

This chapter gives an overview of the archaeological evidence associated with the Pechenegs who settled in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. It first outlines Pecheneg history from their earliest known homeland on the upper Irtysh to their settlement in Hungary, mainly between the mid-11th century and the first quarter of the 12th century. Only three sites in the Sárvíz Valley, Sárbogárd–Tinód, Sárbogárd–Templom-dűlő and Kajdacs–Rókadomb, can be securely attributed to the Pechenegs; their dating rests on typology and on coins of István II and Béla II. Other finds are assigned tentatively, on the basis of East European and Balkan parallels and of the Pecheneg associations of their find-spots in charters and place names. These include stirrups with loops forged as a continuation of the side arms, jointless bar bits, star-shaped maces, the finds from the Borsod earthwork (among them lyre-shaped buckles), a leaf-shaped rattle mount, a set of late nomadic mounts from near Esztergom, a child burial at Szihalom and the Darufalva silver hoard. The author argues that the four-spiked forged-iron star-shaped mace was of Byzantine origin and passed through the Pechenegs to the steppe and later to the Cumans, and discusses the Hungarian terms csokmány, csomak, csomasz and buzogány. The chapter concludes that the archaeologically identifiable Pecheneg material is very limited and consists mainly of horse equipment and weapons. It supports the view that the Sárvíz Valley group settled most probably in the first quarter of the 12th century, in connection with the Pecheneg defeat of 1122.