Findings suggest that the ancient battle at Tollense marked the beginning of large-scale, organized warfare in Europe. One hypothesis involves control over a vital trade route. The Tollense
River was once crossed by a causeway, built 500 years before the battle,
which may have been part of a major trade network. At the moment, that sounds as good as any other theory.
The study above highlights the role of archers in ancient warfare, which has often been underestimated. That's a skull that the arrowhead is piercing up there, so it was um, vitally important, quite literally to at least one person there.
It's the earliest big battle they know, but as the article says, just the tip of the iceberg.
ReplyDeleteI've been told that war arrows differ from hunting arrows, at least for some tribes -- that ease of removal is important when you retrieve game, and the opposite of what you want if your arrow is stuck in an enemy.