Warfare in Bronze Age Society

Christian Horn, Kristian Kristiansen

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781107185562
• eBook ISBN: 9781316952788
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Archeologia

Warfare in Bronze Age Society takes a fresh look at warfare and its role in reshaping Bronze Age society. The Bronze Age represents the global emergence of a militarized society with a martial culture, materialized in a package of new efficient weapons that remained in use for millennia to come. Warfare became institutionalized and professionalized during the Bronze Age, and a new class of warriors made their appearance. Evidence for this development is reflected in the ostentatious display of weapons in burials and hoards, and in iconography, from rock art to palace frescoes. These new manifestations of martial culture constructed the warrior as a 'Hero' and warfare as 'Heroic'. The case studies, written by an international team of scholars, discuss these and other new aspects of Bronze Age warfare. Moreover, the essays show that warriors also facilitated mobility and innovation as new weapons would have quickly spread from the Mediterranean to northern Europe.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Chapter One Introducing Bronze Age Warfare
• Chapter Two Bronze Age Encounters: Violent or Peaceful?
• Chapter Three Warfare and the Political Economy: Europe 1500–1100 bc
• Chapter Four Warfare vs. Exchange? Thoughts on an Integrative Approach
• Chapter Five Maritime Warfare in Scandinavian Rock Art
• Chapter Six Bronze Weaponry and Cultural Mobility in Late Bronze Age Southeast Europe
• Chapter Seven The Emergence of Specialized Combat Weapons in the Levantine Bronze Age
• Chapter Eight Beyond the Grave: Crafting Identities in the Middle Bronze Age Southern Trans Urals
• Chapter Nine Carp’s-Tongue Swords and Their Use: Functional, Technological and Morphological Aspects
• Chapter Ten Warfare or Sacrifice? Archaeological Research on the Bronze Age Site in the Tollense Valley, Northeast Germany
• Chapter Eleven Violence and Ritual in Late Bronze Age Britain: Weapon Depositions and Their Interpretation
• Chapter Twelve ‘Warrior Graves’ vs. Warrior Graves in the Bronze Age Aegean
• Chapter Thirteen The Chief and His Sword? Some Thoughts on the Swordbearer’s Rank in the Early Nordic Bronze Age
• Chapter Fourteen Becoming the Warrior: Constructed Identity or Functional Identity?
• Chapter Fifteen Body Aesthetics, Fraternity and Warfare in the Long European Bronze Age: Postscriptum
• Index