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Early Medieval SwordGuards from Bulgaria

Deyan RABOVYANOV

Subjects o this study are a specific type o sword guards ound on the territoryo Northern Bulgaria. A characteristic eature o these items is that at the bottomthere is a metal plate which outflanks the lower part o the blade. Although thereare three types o sword guards out o the our known to date, differentiated by theshape, a common tendency in all these three particular types could be traced. Techronology o the objects, based on archaeological evidence, alls into the periodo the First Bulgarian kingdom (681-1018) and the beginning o the Byzantinedomination (1018-1185) but not later than the 11thcentury.

Te comparison o these sword guards with the ones ound in Eastern andWestern Europe ( 1966, 18-60; 1997, 60-79; Jones et al.2002; Nicolle 1999a; 1999b; Oakeshott 1994; 2000; Petersen 1919; Vinski 1977;Marek 2005) did not show similarities between them. Tis act requires adducingother parallels which could establish the origin and the appearance o these swordguards in Bulgaria.

Te first to turn to these arteacts was Valeri Yotov, who suggested a date inthe 10thcentury, thereby attributing a Byzantine origin to them ( 2004, 40-45; 2009). However, the available inormation about these sword guards does notseem to support his hypothesis.

Te earliest object to appear in the scholarly literature is the bronze swordguard discovered in 1948 during the excavations o St. Vaklinov in Pliska. It wasound northeast rom the Little palace among the ruins o an edifice that had apublic purpose and dated to 10th 11thc., thanks to the coins retrieved therein( 1955, 190-194). Te sword guard was defined as a part o a bronzecross-piece or a sword, consisting o two halves, cast separately, and embracingthe iron part o the sword. Te author identified the find as being a part o a typi-cal medieval sword, which was widespread among the Slavs. Te identification isbased on a photo obtained rom Niederle ( 1955, 208).

From the detailed photo (fig. 1), we can assume that the sword guard wasdesigned or a sword with a blade 6.5 cm wide, with the sleeve under the quillons

being 2 cm long. Te quillons were relatively short, but well defined with roundedends. Te cylindrical bush that was meant to embrace the sword hilt is 1.6 cm highand 3.2 cm wide. In the base, there is a relie ring which is the only decoration othe sword.

Te sword rom the village o Galovo was discovered by chance by tractordrivers rom the Ostrovo dike which were passing by the village (fig. 2). Nikolov isquite brie in mentioning that the same sword guard was ound in Pliska (1962, 36). Te sword is 89 cm long and has a rounded point, without a uller. Othe hilt, there is a metal tang preserved with two openings or the rivets. Tisobject has been studied in details by V. Yotov ( 2004, 40) who concludesthat there are no immediate or closer parallels or it. He considers, however, thatthe sword o the Niederles monograph (fig. 26), as well as another one ound inerni brod, Slovakia (fig. 9) and identified as being Byzantine are similar to thisone.

ARCHAEOLOGIABULGARICAXV, 2 (2011), 73-86


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Fig. 1. Sword guard ound in1948 in Pliska (afer 1955, 207, . 24).

Fig. 2.Sword rom Galovo vil-lage, district Vratza (afer 2004, XXIX/421).

Fig. 3. Sword guard romnortheastern Bulgaria (afer 2004, XXIX/429).

Fig. 4.Sword guard ound in 2005 in

Pliska (afer 2009, 256, . 2).

Fig. 5.Sword rom warriors grave rom the Agorao Corinth (afer Weinberg 1974, 519, fig. 4).

Fig. 6.Sword rom grave 85 in Aradac-Meka (afer Kiss 1987, 196, Abb. 2).

Fig. 7.Sword rom ekija (afer Jankovi 1983, 63, Pl. IV/1).

Fig. 8.Sword rom Andalusia (afer Garca 2001, 185, fig. 2).


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A characteristic eature o the sword guard ound in Galovo is the distinctseparation o the basic parts with profiled canals and the relatively long quillonswhich end in relie protuberances set at an angle to the blade. Most probably theyhad not only a decorative unction, but they must have served as holders onwhich the enemys swordblade would have been held up.

A similar shape has another sword guard rom northeastern Bulgaria which ispart o a private collection (fig. 3). It is bronze cast and is 12.3 cm long. V. Yotovcompares it with the one ound in 1948 in Pliska, as well as with the one in Galovoand another one in the Louvre dating rom the 9th 10thcenturies ( 2004,45).

Te sword guard is differentiated by its detailed morphology (fig. 3), as well asby its both sides, in between the bushing o the hilt and the sleeve which embracesthe blade there is a relie triangle pointing to the blade. Te one preserved quillonends in a small ball separated by a relie ring.

Te last o the objects discussed in my work (fig. 4) was ound in 2005 during

archaeological excavations o the wooden ortress in Pliska. It was ound togetherwith 24 other objects o iron, copper, bronze, bone and glass in a layer o ash in apit plated with bricks in pit . According to P. Georgiev, who explored the site,the pit dates rom the middle o 11thc., suggesting that the objects were equipmenthidden there during the Pecheneg invasions in the 1030s 1040s ( 2008,354).

Unortunately, in both articles the sword guard is shown not to scale, therebyhindering its urther description. Distinctive eatures o this guard are the rela-tively long sleeve that embraces the blade and also the proportionate bushing orthe swords handle. Te short, concave quillons, which are joined by the concavearcs with relie swelling, present a special characteristic o this sword guard (fig.

4).Te question o the origin and the chronology o the our sword guards is in

act connected with the problem o the early medieval swords development in theEastern Mediterranean, which ties into the broader question o influence comingrom the Byzantine empire.

In the 1960s Hoffmeyer pointed out that the lack o specific arteacts orresearch makes it impossible to single out one particular kind o sword that isByzantine. Te problem is complicated by the act that the Roman heritageintermingled with the traditions o different peoples in or outside the borderso the Empire, which inevitably influenced the art o war (Hoffmeyer 1966, 13,94-97). Besides, warare is an area strongly susceptible to ashions coming rom

the outside. Te eclectic character o the two major military orces in the region Byzantium and the Arab caliphate, combined with the common Roman inherit-ance is making the characteristic eatures o the Roman swords easily recognizablein the early medieval arms o the Mediterranean region. Tese are the straighttwo-edged blades and the small D-shaped protective sword guard that has moreconfining than protective unction (Bishop / Coulston 1993, 53-54, 69-74, 111-112, 126-135, 162-165; James 2004, 140-142, 145-151; Rapin 2001; Miks 2007).

Bearing this in mind, Hoffmeyer introduces the term Latin type o sword todistinguish the barbarian sword used by the warriors in Europe (Hoffmeyer 1961,43-44). Besides, the straight double-edged swords with rounded point and a wideblade were almost binding to the warriors rom the Islamic and the Byzantineregions as late as the 10thcentury (Nicolle 1991, 302-303; 1999b).

A sword ound in the grave o a warrior in the Corinthian agora dates to the7thcentury (Weinberg 1974, 517-521) (fig. 5), as does the one in grave 85 in the


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necropolis o Aradac-Meka (Kiss 1987, 203-204) (fig. 6), a sword o either aSasanian or Early-Islamic origin ound in Oman (Nicolle 1991, 302-303, 312, 318;2002a, 162-163) and part o the swords in the graves in the zebeldinskaya plain( / 1982, 130). Te swords kept in opkap saray which wereunconditionally attributed to sacred Islamic personalities (Alexander 2001, 196-199; Nicolle 1991, 302-303, 312, 318; 2002a, 162-163) should be revisited, sincesuch identification requires urther proos.

Te sword rom Galovo (fig. 2), as well as another one with an identical blade,attributed to the Omayad caliphate in Spain (fig. 8) (Garca 2001, 183, 187), theswords rom Garabonc in Hungary (fig. 10) (Szke et al. 1992, 504) and in ernibrod in Slovakia (Kiss 1987, 204-205) are all dated to the 8th 9thcenturies.

Te swords rom ekija (fig. 7) (Jankovi 1983, 58), Kunagota (fig. 11) (Kiss1987, 205-206), Sfintu George (Kiss 1987, 206-207) in the region o the middleDanube river are dated to the 10thcentury. Same is the dating o another swordrom the excavations in Nishapur (Nicolle 1991, 302-303, 318; 2002, 162-163).Considerable number but unortunately more stylized are the images rom the

Fig. 9. Sword rom erni brod(afer Kiss 1987, 199, Abb. 5).

Fig. 10. Sword rom Garabonc (aferSzke et al. 1992, 504, a. 20).

Fig. 11. Sword rom Kunagota(afer Kiss 1987, 200, Abb. 6).

Fig. 12. Sword guard rom Serce Limanshipwreck (afer Nicolle 2002a, 163, fig. 28).


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territories in the cultural influence o Byzantium and the Islamic world (Alexander2001, 193-196; Nicolle 1991, 303, 320-323; 1999b).

Tere is one interesting observation made by Oakeshott, one o the eminentscholars on ancient weapons, who suggests that i the blade changed in order to

satisy the improvement o the deensive armour, the variations in the shape othe protective sword guard and the pommel were there to satisy the changes inthe ashion and the taste (Oakeshott 1951, 49). o this I would add as a actor thepreerred fighting technique.

Te sword guards in which the sleeve embraces the base o the blade have theirspecific shape that cannot be seen among the early Byzantine and Roman swords.Tis shape owes to the use o ricasso fighting technique, or the so called Italiangrip which is the placement o the index finger o the hand which is holding thesword in ront o the protective sword guard, covering the side o the grip (fig. 27).Tis style ensures better control over the sword and a variety o blows (Haskins1952, 258-261; Nicolle 1991, 305-306; 2002a, 158).

We assume that this fighting technique was developed in India but its firstdepictions can be seen on Sasanian silver vessels (fig. 27). Most probably, thetechnique used in Sasanian Iran was easily adopted by the Arabs in the areas otheir invasions (Haskins 1952, 258-261; Hoffmeyer 1961, 67; Nicolle 1979, 179).What is important is the act that most o the instances o the ricasso techniqueafer the 8thcentury have to do with Islamic art (Nicolle 1979, 179; 1991, 320-323).In Byzantine or Byzantium-inspired art such examples are less in number whichis also an indicative act, having in mind the taboos in depicting a human in theIslamic doctrine.

Te Arabs affection to the use o the ricasso has been generally acknowledgedin Europe (Haskins 1952, 258-261; Hoffmeyer 1961, 51, 67; Nicolle 1991, 305-306;

2002a, 158). Tis actor was to blame or the large popularity and spread o thesleeve sword guard, embracing the blade. Tis peculiar design was an innovation,owing its existence to the application o this particular fighting technique.

Although there are a ew similar items ound on the territory o the Numidiankingdom, dating rom the Antiquity (Nicolle 2002a, 160-161, fig. 8),as well as insome Apsilian graves rom the 4th 7thcenturies in Caucasus ( / 1982, 121, 130), they were typical or the Middle ages.

Te first one comprises the earliest examples. Te most popular one is un-doubtedly the bronze sword guard rom the Arab pilgrim station al-Rabadah (fig.16) ound alongside other archaeological arteacts rom the 8th 9thc. during ar-chaeological excavations. Nowadays it is kept at the archaeological department othe King Saud university (Nicolle 1991, 305-306; 2002a, 164-165). Aside rom theshortened proportions and the relie edge at the end o the sleeve which embracesthe blade and the hilt o the sword, the sword guard is identical to the second onerom the group ound in Pliska, in 2005 (fig. 4). o the same group we shouldattribute another sword guard, almost identical in shape and decoration, bronzecast rom the Chersonese (fig. 17). It was ound in 1905 by K. K. Kostsiushko-Valyuzhinich during excavations o the acropolis in the southwestern part o thecity. Tis one was dated by B. Rybakov to the 10thcentury. Tis statement, togetherwith its Byzantine origin, was accepted by V. Yotov without urther argumentation( 2009).

o a different group should be attributed the sword guard ound in 1948 inPliska (fig. 1), as well as two other richly decorated objects which on stylisticgrounds were attributed to this group as well. Te earlier o these (fig. 18), accord-ing to its shape and dimensions which are identical to the Pliska sword was dated


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to the 9th 10thcentury, originating rom Fatimid Egypt. It is o bronze, entirelypreserved with its hilt, and decorated with plant motives and Surah 112 rom theKoran. It is mentioned as being a part o the Louvre collection (Nicolle 1991, fig.

5) and eventually as a part o the collection o D. Storm-Ryce (Nicolle 2002a, 178-179, fig. 114). Te other sword guard (fig. 19) is silver plated and decorated withniello, distinguished by its short, relie quillons. It is in the collection o RiaatSheikh al Ard in Genve, said to be o Seljuk origin rom the 12 th 13thcentury(Nicolle 2002a, 164-165, fig. 31).

A different group should be attributed to the Galovo sword (fig. 2) and thesword guard ound in northeastern Bulgaria (fig. 3), as well as a single-edgedsword rom the Belgrade Military museum, inventory number 16 103 (fig. 20).It is originating rom Stara Pazova-Surduk, rom the 8th 9thcentury (2006, 115). In spite o the corrosion and the photographys bad quality, we canidentiy the common eatures the relatively large quillons o the sword guard

and short sleeve, embracing the base o the blade.Te peculiar shape o these sword guards directed the scholars attention to

earlier times, which is the reason why we have different theories about their originand chronology.

With no comparanda but the example rom Niederle, St. Vaklinov attributedthe sword guard ound by him in 1948 to the Slavs ( 1955, 205).

Considering the early medieval swords with a straight double-edged blade anda cast bronze sword guard ound in Carpathian region, A. Kiss compared themto the sword guard ound by Vaklinov. As a working hypothesis he assumes thatthese weapons are o Byzantine origin, showing the typological development or aperiod o 200-300 years (Kiss 1987, 193-203).

V. Yotov develops Kisss thesis urther, uniying all the items with cast bronzesword guards, regardless o its shape, in one group. In his comparisons he consid-ers the Bulgarian examples, the swords rom Kunagota and erni Brod described

Fig. 15. Mameluke or Maghreb sword rom 12th 14thc.,Askeri museum, Istanbul (afer Nicolle 2002a, 165, fig. 35).

Fig. 13. Persian bronze matrices or moulds osword guards and pommels and parts o scabbardrom 12th 13thc., Metropolitan museum, NewYork (afer Nicolle 2002a, 163, fig. 29a-c).

Fig. 14. Seljuk or Persian bronze matrices ormoulds o sword guards and pommels rom12th 13thc., Riaat Sheikh al Ard Collection,Geneva (afer Nicolle 2002a, 165, fig. 30).


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by Kiss, the sword rom Garabonc in Hungary, the bronze sword guards romal-Rabadah, Chersonese and the Fatimid one with Surah 112. Without clearlydifferentiating between them, he identified them as Byzantine dating rom 9thandmainly rom 10thcentury ( 2004, 42, 45; 2009).

D. Nicolle, who is apparently unamiliar with the examples rom Bulgaria, themiddle Danube and the Crimean, is o the opinion that the cast bronze swordguards, the ones with the embracing sleeve, as well as those with the D-shapedbushing or the hilt are o Islamic origin. Te suggestion that they were adopted byByzantium and that his hypothesis could be altered by uture finds (Nicolle 1991,305-306) points to some uncertainty in his conclusions.

In my opinion, the available inormation could be interpreted in the sense thatthe spread o the embracing-blade sword guards should be linked to the Arabmilitary tradition rather than the Byzantine. First, we have to consider that earlymedieval items we are amiliar with, dating rom the dark ages (7thcentury), lackcertain characteristics, such as a sleeve around the blade and a bushing or thehilt. Despite being cast in bronze, they are more likely to make use o the Roman

Fig. 16. Sword guard rom al-Rabadah (afer Nicolle 2009, 23).

Fig. 17. Sword guard rom Chersonese(afer 2009, 255, . 1).

Fig. 18. Egyptian sword guard and pommelrom 9th 10thc. with Surah 112 rom theKoran (afer Nicolle 2002a, 179, fig. 114).

Fig. 19. Seljuk swordgard rom 12th13thc., Riaat Sheikh al Ard Collection,Geneva (afer Nicolle 2002a, 165, fig. 31).

Fig. 20. Sword rom Stara Pazova-Surduk in the Militarymuseum, Belgrade (afer 2006, 115).


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Fig. 21. Sword rom Martins Cave,Gibraltar (afer Nicolle 2002a, fig. 2a-c).

Fig. 22. Sword rom Martins Cave,Gibraltar (afer Nicolle 2002a, fig. 3a-c).

Fig. 23. Sword rom BajtMasal tomb, Oman (aferNicolle 2002a, 165, fig. 35).

Fig. 24. Relie o Goliath romArmenian church at Akhtamar(afer Nicolle 2009, 169, fig. 182).

Fig. 25. Numidian sword romgrave at al-Suma, 2nd 1stc. BC(afer Nicolle 2002a, 161, fig. 8).

Fig. 26. Drawing o a sword withscabbard rom Jarognevice (afer 1956, 375, . 113).

Fig. 27. Sasanian silver plate (afer Marschak 1986, fig. 5).

Fig. 28. Sword guards romPergamum and Salamis (aferKazanski / Sodini 1987, 74, fig. 3).


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type o a small sword guard. An example o this arethe sword guard rom the Corinthian agora (fig. 5)(Weinberg 1974, 517-521), the one rom grave 85rom Aradac-Meka (fig. 6) (Kiss 1987, 203-204), aswell as the ones ound near Pergamum and Salamis inCyprus (fig. 28) (Weinberg 1974, 517-521; Kazanski /Sodini 1987, 74, fig. 3).

Te technique o bronze casting was common toall Islamic sword guards (Nicolle 1991, 306). Tis wasalso a result o adoption and the urther developmento the Roman metallurgic traditions in the rich andtechnologically receptive Arab caliphate (Craddock1979, 75). Te same technique was applied to anothertype o sword guards rom the same period, geneti-cally close to the ones I consider here. As a whole,it is a more developed orm o the typical D-shapedRoman sword guards. However, these were not madeo bone or antler; they are bronze cast with a swelledbushing, embracing the lower part o the hilt. Teseeatures are not present in the Roman swords.

Such are the protective guards o the swords oundin graves in Garabonc (fig. 10) (Szke et al. 1992, 504)and in erni brod (fig. 9) (Kiss 1987, 204-205) datingrom the 9thcentury, as well as that rom Kunagotha(fig. 11) dated by coins to the 10thcentury. (Kiss 1987,205-206). As originating rom 10th 11thc. is dated

the lavishly decorated bronze sword guard ound inthe shipwreck at Serce Liman (fig. 12) (Bass / vanDoorninck 1978; Nicolle 1991, 306, 318; 2002a, 162-163). From the 12th c. is a Persian or Seljuk bronzematrix or sword guards rom the collection o RiaatSheikh al Ard in Geneva (fig. 14) (Nicolle 2002a, 164-165) and a Persian one rom the 12th 14thc. which iskept in the Metropolitan museum o art in New York(fig. 13) (Nickel 1991, 126; Nicolle 2002a, 162-163).From the same period is a sword kept in the Askerimuseum in Istanbul (fig. 15) (Nicolle 2002a, 164-165), which is either o Mameluke or Maghreb origin.So ar, the spread o this particular sword guardsshould be attributed mainly to the Islamic world. NonIslamic are the swords in Kunagotha, erni Brod andGarabonc but the latter is an imitational make usinga local technique (Szke et al. 1992, 504). Furtherindications o this are provided by numerous icono-graphic images rom different sources, rom Persia toAndalusia (Alexander 2001, 194, fig. 1; Nicolle 1991,figs. 19, 22, 28, 46b, 48a-, 55; 2002a, figs. 64a-b, 69,72, 96, 100, 104).

Further support to my claim is the data ound inthe available iconography. As it was already men-tioned, such sword guards are rather Islamic thanByzantine, despite the act that the human images

Fig. 30. Steatite icon o St. Demetrius rom Oruzheinayapalata, Moscow (afer 1966, . 151).

Fig. 29. St. George rom Protothrone church nearChalki, island o Naxos (afer Chatzidakis 1989, fig. 20).


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are tabooed in Islamic art. Tere are three Byzantine specimens that have comedown to us, which are having a sleeve but the sword guard itsel has classicalstraight quillons, thereby distinguishing them rom the first two groups o swordguards. Tese are as ollows: St. George rom the Protothrone church on the is-

land o Naxos (fig. 29) rom the end o 11th

century.; the miniature image o theMassacre o the innocents rom the Studite Psalter (1066) and a steatite icon oSt. Demetrius in Oruzheinaya palata in Moscow whose dating was revised to the14thcentury (Kalavrezou-Maxeiner 1985, 198-200) (fig. 30). We should note thatall the three objects are relatively late compared to the items mentioned above.

Tere is a relie that has been pointed out as a proo or the use o this specificguard shape in Byzantium rom the 10 th century, in the Akhtamar church (fig.24). However, this relie is in act an example o Armenian art. As well as this, thenegative personages such as Goliath are the traditional representations o the col-lective enemy which or the period are the Arabs. It should also be noted that thedepicted warrior is a typical illustration o the Central Asian influence in armour,

which justified the specialists opinion that the image depicts a warrior rom theByzantine-Arab border o Eastern Anatolia (Nicolle 2002b, 231).

Important proo to such identification is the preserving o the specific swordguard shape even later in the Islamic countries. Such examples are the two swordsound in Martins Cave in Gibraltar, with a separate sleeve applied to the base othe blade (fig. 21-22). Te arms are identified as originating rom Andalusia orMorocco rom the 12th century. (Nicolle 2002a, 199). Te upper chronologicalmargin is represented by a broken double-edged sword with an iron hilt originat-ing rom the graves o Bait Massal in Oman rom the 17 th 18thcentury (Nicolle2002a, 164-165).

Considering the quick spread o the military ashion, the emergence o thesword guards in the Byzantine Empire is hardly surprising. However, the unevennumber o such examples should be attributed not only to the scarcity o the armsand armour in Byzantium or to the abundance o metal in the ar-flung territoryo the early Islamic lands, as Nicolle claims (Nicolle 1991, 299-301). Te spreado these objects should be attributed not only to the ashion, but also to the cir-culation o its material bearers the bronze sword guards moulded in the Islamiclands probably first reached the lands south o the Danube as parts o the swords.Indicative is the act that both arteacts ound in Pliska were ound alongsideother Arabic or Near Eastern objects. Te one ound in 1948 was with two bronzearcher-rings1( 1955, . 25/6, 7), and the other one ound in 2005 was

with a bronze mould or coin-shaped objects ( 2008).In view o this, I think that the objects ound in Pliska are o Arabic origin.

Earlier (8th 9thcentury) is the one ound in 2005 (fig. 4). Te act that it is relatedto the guards rom al-Rabadah and Chersonese is obvious. Te guard ound in1948 by St. Vaklinov (fig. 1) should most probably be dated later, but a moreprecise date than 10th 11thc. could not be given with certainty. I we judge romthe background o the find, we may assume that it could not be later than the1030s 1040s. Te item presents a more developed shape but unortunately lacksdecoration that would have given more precise inormation.

Especially important is the act that both objects originate rom archaeologicalexcavations o strata dated rom the early 11th century. ( 1955, 190-194; 2008, 354). Tese, however, cannot be attributed to this period, sincethey must have gone out o use by that time. Te period when this guard was inuse cannot be pinpointed.

1 I would like to express mygratitude to the colleague

Yanko Dimitrov, one o thePliskas most long-standingresearchers, who drew myattention to this detail.


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Te Galovo sword (fig. 2) and the sword guard rom the northeastern Bulgaria(fig. 3) remain unparalleled. Here, both theories about the Byzantine and Islamicorigin seem likely. Contributing to the Byzantine theory are the three monu-ments o Byzantine art mentioned above (fig. 29-30). Te shape o the blade, onthe other hand, was equally popular in both worlds. Te find o the sword in theOstrovo dike could give some grounds or a date in the Pagan period (8 th 9thcentury). Considering the circumstances under which it was ound, we are unor-tunately unable to explain the act o the presence o such an expensive arteactthere.

Te sword guard rom northeastern Bulgaria that is similar in shape to theGalovo guard (fig. 3) is decorated with a relie triangle in the middle o the body.Tis puts it closer to the Islamic sword guards (fig. 13,16-17,19,21-22), wherethe eature is a remarkably conservative element.

Te presence o our such sword guards attested in a relatively limited terri-tory is not an accident. It could be explained by their barbarian archaeological

background, presupposing the presence o a larger number o military objects, onone hand, or by the extensive archaeological investigation o the Early Medievalperiod in Bulgaria, on the other.

Te possible ways o arrival o the sword guards in Bulgaria are numerous.One is that they were spoils o war rom the times o the military campaigns inTrace, an area in which the Byzantine empire moved population rom Anatoliaor a population that had escaped rom the Caliphate ( 2004). Military unitsrom the Anatolian region were quite ofen involved in campaigns against theBulgarians and the renegades coming rom Byzantium, some o which were oArabic origin, had always been welcome by the Bulgarian rulers. Although therulers were known to have had tendency to put restrictions on the trade with arms

and armour, we should consider this a probability.Generally, arms and armour are arteacts o a great portability and durabil-ity which complicates their research. Tat is why all the conclusions on the oursword guards have a preliminary character, at least until we find another materialto compare them with.

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Deyan Rabovyanov, PhD

National Archaeological Institute with MuseumVeliko arnovo Branch29, Ivan Vazov Str.BG-5000 Veliko [email protected]

ranosrednjovekovne nakrsnice bugarska

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