Keszthely culture

The Keszthely culture was a mixed Romanised population-Germanic-Avar, Christian enclave located in present-day Hungary, from the 6th century until the first half of the 7th century. These people could be found near the northern part of Lake Balaton and around Keszthely in a roughly 30 km area. The culture had faded out by the 7th century.

According to one theory many people of this culture were craftsmen, abducted or invited to that region in the mid-6th century by the Avars. These settlers, or slaves, came from the Balkans, Dalmatia, the eastern Alpine region and the Germanic lands. Historian Florin Curta mentions a second, more recent understanding of the material traces, namely "a deliberate imitation of West European fashions by the inhabitants of the western parts of the qaganate."