The Unknown Warrior

The Archaeology of the Common Soldier

Richard Osgood

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN: 9780750938105
• eBook ISBN: 9780752495460
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

A tale of the 'poor bloody infantry' and what we glean of their lot from prehistory right through to World War I. This book compares the life of the soldier across time and cultures. It includes the great battles of medieval Europe.

ONE

The Dawning of the Arms Race: Bronze Age Warriors

The greatnesse and numeroussnesse of the Barrows (the beds of Honour where now so many Heroes lie buried in Oblivion) doe speak plainly to us, that Death and Slaughter once rag’d here and there were scenes, where terrible Battles were fought …

(John Aubrey, ‘Monumenta Britannica’)

Warfare was not something that came with the Roman legions, interrupting the otherwise peaceful lives of folk in the British Isles. There is evidence of combat in earlier periods – the Neolithic, for example, saw attacks on Crickley Hill in Gloucestershire, and Hambledon Hill in Dorset (Mercer, 1999). But it was the European Bronze Age that saw the Continent’s first arms race: the rise of a panoply of deadly arms, prestigious pieces of armour and competition surrounding the movements of goods. It is from this point that I began looking at the archaeology of combat, and for that reason, and to illustrate the long history of warfare in Britain, I have included this chapter on part of the prehistoric sequence of the development of the British Isles. It also serves as an introduction to the elements we shall look at from the historic periods in later chapters.

Traces of the Bronze Age arms race can be seen alongside the burials of those who, in death, wished to be portrayed as warriors, and also those who had suffered from this weapon technology in life. Fortified centres, the precursors of many of the well-known Iron Age hill forts, were created, and the archaeological record also shows the possible modes of transport of the infantry. This was a period of infantry – horses did not appear in any numbers in the British Isles until probably the end of the Late Bronze Age, but when they did, their presence was significant and they were revered. A recent Optical Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) date obtained from the chalk hill carving of the horse at Uffington in Oxfordshire was Late Bronze Age. Furthermore, decorative pieces of horse gear were made in the Late Bronze Age, around 700 BC, with some examples from Britain having been destroyed by weapons, as part of a votive act, in a similar fashion to the destruction of Late Bronze Age swords (Osgood, 1995). If, by the close of the period, the infantry was able to use the horse to add to its mobility, even if fighting was on foot, its other major means of transport was the boat.

Movement of war bands by boat was along the same riverine routes as trade goods and these boats enabled people to travel long distances. Bronze Age boats have been found at places such as Dover, Kent, and North Ferriby, Humberside. Rock carvings in Denmark from this period depict warriors, sometimes fighting, on board large vessels (Osgood and Monks, 2000: 31). Another example of the possible depiction of a Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age raiding party using a boat to bring the warriors to their point of fighting was found at Roos Carr in Humberside. A wooden model of a number of warriors with round shields, clubs and phalluses was found here (Osgood, 1999b; Osgood and Monks, 2000: 34–5).

It seems that warfare was the preserve of those at the upper end of society, who had access to such prestige goods as bronze shields, helmets and weapons. Fighting at the start of the period, using the rapier, was specialised and probably accomplished only by champions; later, war bands and raiding parties would fight. It is possible that the archaeological record holds evidence for the more ‘showy’ elements of the arms of these warriors and that clubs and staves have not survived. Although such raiding was undertaken by a specialised group, other Bronze Age people would have had to fight if their settlement was raided or attacked. What we are seeing is perhaps only a sample of material related to combat, and the so-called common soldier was probably a member of an important class of society. In this chapter I shall avoid too much analysis of the typologies of weaponry as other scholars have dedicated large works to this subject and our study is, among other things, to look at the types of weaponry available to the warrior in this period.

WEAPONRY

With the Bronze Age in the British Isles spanning 1,500 years, it is not surprising that weaponry and its use changed over this time. At the start of the period, the bow and arrow was probably the main weapon of choice. Arrowheads and archer’s wristguards were essential elements of the Beaker Culture burial package, and there is evidence of the effectiveness of flint arrowheads. Daggers are present in many burial contexts, but it was not until the emergence in the Middle Bronze Age of the rapier – a long, slender, stabbing bronze weapon – that we see the introduction of the hand weapon proper. Rapiers required precision and training was necessary; they were the weapon of ‘champions’. Tears in the handle rivets of such objects indicate that a slashing motion was more natural and show how occasionally the rapier was used incorrectly.

Swords appear in the Late Bronze Age and have been found throughout the British Isles. Bridgford (1997) has examined large numbers of Irish examples and noted that the edge damage displayed is consistent with the swords having been used in combat. By the end of the Bronze Age, a type of sword had emerged that employed the classic leaf-shaped sword’s slashing attributes with a tapering end more useful for stabbing (the rapier’s strong point). The ‘Carp’s Tongue’ sword has been found along the Atlantic fringe of northern Europe, including the British Isles (Cunliffe, 2001: 280–1). To date, swords have not been associated with any palaeopathological evidence of violence, but it seems safe to assume that these objects, although of great value, prestige and beauty, also had a functional aspect and would have been used in violent raids. Their importance within a votive setting has been demonstrated by Pryor (1991: fig. 11), whose work at Flag Fen, near Peterborough, has shown that they were deposited, along with other weapons and bronzes, in the water as religious offerings. Swords deposited in such a manner could be broken prior to their sacrifice, perhaps symbolising the ‘killing’ of an object imbued with power.

In addition to the sword and its predecessor, the rapier, the spear was present for much of the Bronze Age. This is not the place to discuss the many varieties of spear and the huge range in sizes, shapes and methods of fixing the spearhead to the shaft. Suffice it to say that the spear, along with the flint arrowhead, is the main weapon for which we have evidence for its use in combat. A Bronze Age shield from Long Wittenham in Oxfordshire had been stabbed by such a weapon and there are two sites that have yielded examples of skeletons with spear wounds, which we shall discuss below, both of which were subject to violent stabs with the weapon. In an earlier work (Osgood, 1998), I tried to evaluate whether one could distinguish between the throwing and thrusting types of spear and came to the conclusion that, although some were better suited as javelins and others for stabbing, the weapon would have been used for whatever purpose it was required. If the warrior had had a javelin-sized weapon in close combat, he would still have tried to use it to stab his opponent. Some spears were for show rather than practical use; the Wandle Park spear was over 80cm long (Osgood and Monks, 2000: 25).

One particular spear, found at North Ferriby, Humberside, was broad-bladed and had pegs at the base of the blade, on the spear shaft, to fix it in place. Bartlett and Hawkes believed that this might have acted as some form of harpoon with the shaft breaking from the spear when it hit its target. The heavy shaft was attached only by a thread and thus encumbered the warrior whose shield it had struck. If, indeed, this was how it was used, the spear employed tactics that the Romans would find successful with the pilum centuries later (Bartlett and Hawkes, 1965: 372–3).

Axes were present throughout the Bronze Age, from the early flat axes carved onto one of the trilithons of Stonehenge to the socketed axes and palstaves from the end of the period. The latter were sometimes found in substantial hoards (Cunliffe, 2001: 289). Axes were important items of equipment, but how far were they weapons? I believe that, rather like the daggers of the period, the warrior would use them if they were the only tool to hand. The rapier, sword and spear are the weapons for which we have physical evidence of their use in fighting and, while the axe was certainly an important object, we have no definite evidence of its use in combat.

A final note on the weaponry of the period must include a comment on the objects which might have been used, but which do not survive in the archaeological record. It is likely that wooden clubs and staffs or staves would have been used in fighting. As these are made of organic material rather than precious metals, we do not find them preserved in the soil – the fact that the raw materials for such weapons were readily available would have meant that anyone needing to defend a hut or village would have owned such an object. No elements of prestige were involved with their ownership and thus they would not have been solely the reserve of the Bronze Age warrior, though they could have been quite functional.

ARMOUR

In France, several breastplates of thin, beaten bronze sheet have been found. The Marmesse cuirass is a wonderful piece of workmanship although, with no evidence for any backing of, say, tough leather, it is unlikely to have provided much protection to its wearer (Osgood and Monks, 2000: 28–9). To date, no such corselet has been recovered in Britain and our evidence of armoured protection used by the warrior is limited to the find of a few studs and the crest of what would have been a couple of helmets from Flag Fen (Pryor, 1991: 115).

Many Bronze Age shields have been recovered from the British Isles, such as those from the River Trent, Nottinghamshire, and Coveney Fen, Cambridgeshire. Some of these seem to have been for purely ceremonial purpose; the ‘Yetholm’ type shield from South Cadbury, for example (Coles et al., 1999), was so thin that it could have been punched through with a fist. Indeed, it seems to have been ritually destroyed or ‘killed’ by being stabbed when on the floor. Did this act and the shield’s deposition at this hill fort represent the defeat of its owner in combat? This shield would have served little practical use unless it was part of a ploy to cow one’s enemies into submission as a result of facing a warrior of great prestige. Some of the metal shields had been used for fighting at some point. The ‘Nipperwiese’ type shield from Long Wittenham, Oxfordshire, c. 396mm diameter and 1–1.25mm thick, had a number of perforations caused by spearheads that left tell-tale traces through their lozenge-shaped cross-sections. This shield also seems to have been hammered flat in another area to beat out the damage of a separate engagement (Needham, 1979).

Occasionally, survival conditions permit the presence of materials that would otherwise decay. Examples of this come from waterlogged contexts in Ireland. Here we have some important evidence pertaining to shields. At Kilmahamogue, County Antrim, a wooden mould for a leather shield has been found – a radiocarbon date for this object of 1950–1540 BC (Early to Middle Bronze Age) was obtained. Wooden shields have been found in Ireland, too, at Annandale and Cloonlara (from the eighth century BC), and a leather example from Clonbrin. This latter Irish example is 50cm in diameter and 5–6mm thick, with the handle stitched onto the back of the shield, the warrior’s hand fitting under a raised part of the shield that acted as the boss (for these shields, see Coles, 1962).

In a now famous piece of experimental work, John Coles replicated both a metal and a leather Bronze Age shield and examined the efficacy of their defence against the blows struck by a replica Late Bronze Age sword. The metal shield was cut almost in half by the sword’s blow, whereas the leather shield was found to possess far better defensive properties (Coles, 1962: 184–5; Harding, 1999a: 89). As the Long Wittenham shield shows, metal shields were used on occasion, but, for practical warfare, the Bronze Age warrior was likely to have been equipped with wooden or leather shield – the bronze examples being used more for display.

PRACTICE AND DISCIPLINE

We have no remains that relate to anything resembling a training camp or training feature in the Bronze Age, nonetheless the weaponry used will have required a modicum of experience; the rapier is a weapon that needs practice if it is to be used effectively. Furthermore, anyone who has picked up a Bronze Age sword would probably be surprised at how small the handles seem – the way of holding such a weapon was to have some of the fingers on the handle, but others closer to the blade of the sword, on the small ‘ricasso’ notch just below the handle. This is something that would take some getting used to if one was to wield a sword to the desired effect.

THE LIFE OF THE SOLDIER

In the following chapters we shall look at elements of the soldier’s life – his pastimes, religion, the food he ate, the availability of alcoholic drink and its significance, and his enjoyment of tobacco. Unfortunately, this is not possible within the context of the Bronze Age, as it is rare to find conclusive evidence of military settlement or of those engaged in combat. Evidence of warfare is often isolated. We might find food traces in a Late Bronze Age midden (such as Chisenbury on Salisbury Plain), or within the confines of a defended settlement, but this is not the same as, say, a latrine in a fort. We cannot be sure of the diet being specifically martial. Further work also needs to be done to analyse human bones, as the information such analysis can provide on diets could be applied to those we think are combat victims.

Drinking

If we are indeed looking at an elite form of warfare in the Early Bronze Age, followed by warriors collected in loose war bands, can we see any parallels in succeeding chapters for obligations that would ensure alliance? In the Saxon and Norse eras there is constant literary evidence for warriors being provided with hospitality and rewards by their leaders and rulers in return for their service. Those who were at the top were known by such terms as ‘ring-givers’ and we see throughout the epic poem Beowulf references to drink being taken in the great halls. By building up ties and obligation, so one could ensure service. Gift-giving and reciprocity is well known in the anthropological record and there is a possibility that this is what we are seeing occasionally in the archaeological record.

To this end, the Beaker Culture ‘package’ is especially interesting. Decorated ceramic drinking vessels – the ‘Beaker’ – are often found in burial assemblages within barrows associated with items of warrior paraphernalia, such as arrowheads and archers’ wristguards. Occasionally, a site such as Barrow Hills (Barclay and Halpin, 1999) produces elements such as gold ‘basket earrings’ (or hair decorations), and very occasionally a fabulously rich burial is found, such as the Amesbury Archer excavated by Wessex Archaeology, with all of the above items and more, including a bronze dagger (see Wessex Archaeology, 2004b).

There is also the possibility that the inhumed were accompanied by leather jerkins and ornamental belts as part of the warrior’s costume, such as those depicted on stelae in Switzerland (Osgood and Monks, 2000: 84). Why would a ceramic vessel be included in the same package as items reflecting a martial character – the arrowheads, wristguard, dagger – or of great wealth in gold and bronze?

Although a new type of vessel, the technology behind the ceramic beaker was not new. It is possible that we are seeing the ceramic vessel as part of the martial package – the symbol of obligation, feasting and bonding through drinking, like the warriors depicted in the Saxon chronicles, epic poems and Norse sagas. Strong liquor does indeed seem to have been part of a status assemblage: ‘Some of the interments in Scottish graves appear to have been accompanied by vessels containing fermented drinks, as indicated by the analysis of scrapings taken from a beaker found at Methilhill, Ashgrove, Fife, and a food vessel from North Mains, Strathallan, Perthshire’ (Clarke et al., 1985: 201).

Sherratt (1994: 253) thinks that bell-beakers began as a variant of corded ware drinking vessels, as the latter tradition in northern Europe saw an assemblage accompanied with stone battle axes, as opposed to the archery equipment of the Beaker package. He writes: ‘These vessels suggest individual hospitality rather than the great communal ceremonies at gathering places, which had hitherto dominated the ritual life of Western Europe.’ Such hospitality could still be used to reinforce ties and bonds between warriors in local elites – perhaps the alcoholic drinks would also provide a form of Dutch courage to warriors, too.

Writings

In the following chapters we shall see many interesting facets connected to writing and the infantry: inscriptions – often of the owner’s name – on weaponry, graffiti scratched by soldiers in buildings, and letters describing conditions found at fortress sites. In Bronze Age Britain there is no such resource. Carvings have been found that reflect the importance of weaponry or ‘prestige goods’, such as the extensive carvings of axes on one of the Stonehenge trilithons recently highlighted by a programme of laser-scanning. Unfortunately we have no writings – it is probably safe to suggest that the warrior of the British Bronze Age was illiterate.

Although there are no writi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. The Dawning of the Arms Race Bronze Age Warriors
• 2. Under the Eagle’s Wings In the Service of the Roman Legions
• 3. Heroes of the Chronicles and Sagas AngloSaxon and Viking Warriors
• 4. Chivalry’s Price Footsoldiers of the Middle Ages
• 5. The Flash of Powder War in the Tudor and Stuart Period
• 6. The Revolution of Industry Soldiers of the Nineteenth Century
• 7. Marching to Hell The Poor Bloody Infantry in the First World War
• Conclusion
• Glossary
• References
• Recommended Websites