14 - Researching Bronze Age Swordsmanship: Experiments and Wear Analysis

Summary

THIS PAPER DISCUSSES SOME preliminary results of the ongoing “Bronze Age Combat” project, which aims to reconstruct the fighting styles used in Late Bronze Age Europe (c.1200–800 B.C.) by linking the impact marks visible on archaeological swords, spears and shields to specific combat actions including strikes, blocks, stabs and throws. The research problem is being investigated through an innovative combination of experiments with replica weapons and wear analysis of archaeological weapons. The paper focuses on our sword research, paying special attention to field test methodology, the classification of combat marks generated during our experiments, and the wear analysis of a sample of archaeological swords from the Great North Museum: Hancock (Newcastle) and the Yorkshire Museum (York). The experimental and archaeological marks are then compared and contrasted with each other. This enables us to put forward original observations regarding swordsmanship and fighting practices in Late Bronze Age Europe.

For a long time, ideas of Bronze Age swordsmanship have been dominated by a number of misconceptions generated by a combination of early experiments with replica weapons and a simplistic use of morphological analogy. This state of affairs finds its raison d’etre in the history of twentieth-century archaeology, which focused on typology as the chief means for assessing the functionality of early metal objects. Moreover, prevailing ideas of prehistoric Europe as a fundamentally pacified world hindered research into ancient violence and warfare, particularly in the wake of World War II.

Academic interest in the practical uses of Bronze Age swords has arisen again in the last twenty years. Two principal strands can be isolated within this research tradition. The first championed the examination of combat-related edge damage on archaeological objects. The second focused instead on experimentation with replica weapons as a method to study ancient swordsmanship as a body-centred practice, which could be accessed through experiential learning and object engagement. Both approaches have had a fundamental role in overturning previous assumptions regarding the uses of Bronze Age weaponry, despite them proving slow to trickle down into mainstream archaeological literature.

Neither approach, however, is devoid of problems. On the one hand, examinations of combat marks have not been accompanied by targeted experiments to replicate them.