Miklós Szabó

Még egyszer a hatvan-boldogi kardról

In a study published in Archaeologiai Ertesitő 139 (2014), Tibor Kemenczei reviewed the research history of various prehistoric finds in the collection of the Hungarian National Museum. Based on his meticulous examination of the museum records, he clarified the problem of how the La Tene sword from Hatvan-Boldog was “doubled”. As it turned out, the sword did not perish during World War II, but was taken to Nyiregyhaza as part of a loan, where it was later inventoried as an artefact originating from Gava-Katohalom. This discussion article addresses the relevant problems based on the records from the 1970s, which offer some instructive conclusions from a museological perspective (documentation of loaned items, re-inventorying, etc.). One significant information for international scholarship is that the sword from Hatvan-Boldog does not have a “twin” in Nyiregyhaza. The final section of the study corrects the dating of the sword and touches upon the issue of the type’s designation.

Considérations sur le problème boïen

The problems of Boius history have their roots in the identification of antique Boiohaemum with medieval Bohemia, an interpretation that has its origins in the tenth century. Any attempt to localize their territory, consideration must be taken of the fact that according to Tacitus, Strabon and other antique writers, this region incorporated the settlement area of King Marobodus and his Marcomanni, the so-called Bouiaimon. Other data suggest that the “land of the Boii” was a forest between the upper course of the Rhine River and present-day eastern Slovakia, along the Danube. The Marcomanni expelled the Boii from this area at the end of the first century BC. On this basis it may be hypothesized that the settlement area of this Celtic tribe was located somewhere in present-day south-western Slovakia. The settlement of the Boii in present-day Czech Republic, however, is a historical topos. Clarifying the correct location of this tribe may contribute to a better understanding of the development and history of...