Pellet Bells from the Avar age Cemeteries of Komárno

Abstract

B e a t e M a r i a P o M B e r g e r -J ö r g M ü h l h a n Sk a y l e i g h S a u n D e r S o n -k a r i n a g r ö M e r the pellet bells from 15 graves of the avar cemeteries komárno iv, viii and iX were examined for their position in the graves, their types, their acoustic and psychoacoustic parameters and their metallurgical compositions within the framework of the research project 'Metallic idiophones between 800 Bc and 800 aD in central europe'. Based on the results, assumptions could be made about their functions. Burials with pellet bells are only a minority among all the total amount of burials of all three cemeteries together and date from the middle avar period ii onwards. only five graves belonged to children. these pellet bells can be interpreted as amulets and rather silent signal instruments, fixed on the clothes of the persons. the other ten grave belonged to horsemen and their horses. these pellet bells were part of the horse harness and served as jewellery, warning signal instrument and amulet. Most of the pellet bells were hammered of bronze sheet, and followed by those cast in bronze. But there are also pellet bells hammered of iron, copper and brass sheet. their main frequencies could be determined between 1.5 -4.5 khz. acoustic and psychoacoustic parameters can help to identify also similarities and differences between the objects and to get an idea of the actual sound. especially loudness and level can also be used to draw conclusions about the use of the objects. a video with the original sounds of the pellet bells was created and loaded up on the internet platform youtube: 'Pellet Bells from the avar Period in komárno'.

Roman bells and Avar pellet bells cast in copper alloys : the materials' influence on acoustic and psychoacoustic

“…They all date to the Avar period. We carried out our investigations and published our results in 2022 (Pomberger -Mühlhans -Saunderson 2022).…”

“…He investigated 23 pellet bells from the collection of the Podunajské múzeum in Komárno (Tirpák, unpublished report;Pomberger -Mühlhans -Saunderson -Grömer 2021). Fur thermore, he also did the chemical analyses of ten pellet bells from the collection of the Slovak National Museum in Bratislava, Slovakia (Tirpák, unpublished report;Pomberger -Mühlhans -Saunderson 2022).…”

Metallic Idiophones 800 BCE–800 CE in Central Europe: Function and Acoustic Influence

“…In addition, we investigated the in uence of the materials on the produced sounds. Some pellet bells had textile residues adhered on their surfaces, so we wanted to determine their composition and the relation of this material to the pellet bells (Pomberger et al 2021a). Finally, we investigated the possibility that the sound objects had any additional meaning.…”

Pellet bells from the Avar and the Carolingian period in the Keszthely region (Hungary): function - sounds - alloys - adhering textiles

“…Only a vanishingly small group of burials contained pellet bells. Therefore, we may say that they were not frequent finds but spread all over the Carpathian Basin during the Avar culture (Pomberger et al 2021b;Pomberger et al 2022c).…”

“…Rainio 2008). The main author of this article created a typology for Avarian pellet bells, independent from Rainio's typology (Pomberger 2020). This typology is used for all the investigations of our project.…”