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Между края на VII и началото на IX в. – периодът, в който е събирано и депонирано съкровището, два политически фактора доминират района на Долен и Среден Дунав: България и Аварският хаганат.
Аварите са конен народ, който произхожда от Средна Азия, за пръв път се явява на историческата сцена през средата на VI век, когато пратениците му достигат до Константинопол в 558/59 г.
Отношенията на българските племена с аварите започват още по времето на хан Кубрат и имат разнороден характер – военни или съюзнически. Сред поданиците на хагана е имало българи, между които е бил и Кубер, един от основните претенденти за власт около 680 г.
Във византийската енциклопедия Свидас са запазени интересни сведения за отношенията между българи и авари. Според тях на българите им харесала носията на аварите, те заменили своите дрехи с техните и се обличали като тях. В периода 811-814 г. в българската войска е имало аварски контингенти.
В началото на IX в. Аварският хаганат е поделен между България и Франкската империя.
The early medieval Nagyszentmiklós treasure has been the subject of study by many Bulgarian scholars and among them should be mentioned the names of Bogdan Filov, Nikola Mavrodinov, Dimitar P. Dimitrov, Stancho Vaklinov, Margarita Vaklinova, Stamen Mihajlov, Oksana Minaeva, Zhivko Aladzhov, Stanislav Stanilov, Nikolay Markov, Ivan Dobrev, etc.
One of the most detailed and significant research studies on the style and manufacturing technique of the treasure was made by Nikola Mavrodinov:
N. Mavrodinov. Le Trézor protobulgare de Nagyszentmiklós. – Arhaeologia Hungarica, XXIX. Budapest, 1943.
Although it has been more than two hundred years and to date there are over 100 studies examining the Nagyszentmiklós treasure, the principal questions related to its owner or whether it was owned by one or several people and when and under what circumstances it was buried, remain without any definitive answer. Different hypotheses give arguments in favor of its Hunic, Bulgarian or Avarian, Hungarian, Sassanid, Pechenegian or Byzantine origin.
It is the uniqueness of the Nagyszentmiklós treasure that hinders its objective examination. No exact parallels are known so far, neither to the treasure as a whole, nor to any of the 23 vessels.
As regards the manufacturing technique, styles of decoration and iconography of the exhibits, divergent influences have been ascertained so far: Byzantine, Sassanid, and Central Asian. Some of the vessels reveal direct relation to Christianity, others refer to mythology that is no longer known to us.
It is assumed by the researchers that the treasure was accumulated over a long time period, from the second half of 7th century until the late 8th century. The studies that have been made in recent decades approved stylistic relationship between the vessels of the treasure and articles and complexes dated to the period of the late Avar Khaganate. The treasure was supposedly buried in the early 9th century.
It is presumed that the Nagyszentmiklós treasure was once a part of the wealth of the Khagan, ruler of the Avars, and belonged to his splendid tableware. It could be argued that his owner or owners must have had major funds and could afford not only to have in their possession precious metal, but to entrust the work to outstanding craftsmen. They created 23 masterpieces of the early medieval art of goldsmithing, executed with a great deal of skill and precision. As regards their accomplished compositions, technical perfection and impressive quality of workmanship, the gold vessels have not lost their fascination to this day.