Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T16:39:44.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Bronze Age Europe

from Part I - The Origins of Conflict

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2020

Garrett G. Fagan
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Linda Fibiger
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Mark Hudson
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Menschheitsgeschichte, Germany
Matthew Trundle
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Get access

Summary

The emergence of a distinct warrior ideology across most parts of Europe occurred in the Bronze Age, marking a profound change in the management of conflict within prehistoric societies. Between the mid third and early first millennium BCE metal evolved from a rare commodity to a common resource used for violent activities, most notably in the form of swords, spears, shields and armour created for battle. Becoming increasingly common by the later part of this period, the scale and complexity of fortified sites transformed the organisation of violence in communities while also reshaping relationships between the built environment and societies by formalising inclusive and exclusive spaces in new ways. The people living through this period of change experienced violence in many venues, with bones preserving the most direct evidence. Violence as commemorated in art is illustrative of how the different societies of Europe understood its social purpose. Our sources demonstrate that across Europe children, women and men could be brutally attacked by weapons ranging from slings and arrows, suited to hunting, to swords and spears, designed for war. This chapter focuses mainly on changes in warfare-related violence due to the wealth of material remains suited to exploring this theme.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bibliographic Essay

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×