Male symbols or warrior identities? The ‘archery burials’ of the Danish Bell Beaker Culture

Sarauw, Torben

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2006.05.001

Cited by 52 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Period I is of special interest. It is a transitional phase rooted in the existence of specialised weaponry and a warrior ideal in the Late Neolithic (Sarauw 2007), but with newly introduced weapons, and the wider spread of bronze technology. The halberd of the Late Neolithic was probably replaced by the sword and the spear around 1800 BC (Horn in prep.).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weapons, fighters and combat: spears and swords in Early Bronze Age Scandinavia

Horn¹

2013

Danish Journal of Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article deals with the use-wear analysis of 204 weapons of Period I of the Early Nordic Bronze Age. The analysed sample contained 154 spearheads and 50 swords and was made up of approximately one-third of the contemporaneous weapons in Southern Scandinavia. The use-wear analysis was undertaken with a source critical view on corrosion and other taphonomic processes. The information obtained was used to see how use-wear and taphonomic processes influence each other. Use-wear analysis was employed to evaluate statements regarding the functionality, or rather non-functionality, of Early Bronze Age weaponry. According to the results, spears and swords were not only functional but also very frequently used. Further deductions can be made from the material. Despite a difference in the scale of fighting, spears and swords show essentially the same kind of combat wear. It is argued that this relates to essentially similar styles of fighting that employ both cutting and stabbing movements and are perhaps most appropriately termed 'fencing'. This style of fighting possibly emerged from frequent encounters of sword and spear fighters in the closely interconnected world of Southern Scandinavia during Period I of the Early Bronze Age. In these engagements, a partial homogenising effect of warfare and fighting becomes visible. Yet, it is not the only effect that accompanies combat and war. Diversification and homogenisation are not mutually exclusive or contradictive. Accordingly, they took place simultaneously and helped develop fighting styles and weapon technologies.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weapons, fighters and combat: spears and swords in Early Bronze Age Scandinavia

Horn¹

2013

Danish Journal of Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Somewhat similar interpretations including warrior brotherhoods (Männerbünde) are also applied in the description of Late Neolithic/Bronze Age cultures such as the Yamnaya culture and the Danish variant of the Bell Beaker culture (e.g. Anthony, 2007: 364;Kristiansen et al, 2017;Sarauw, 2007). In general, a certain warrior identity seems to develop in the later European Neolithic to become a central element of the Bronze Age male ideal (C. J.…”

Section: The Rise Of the Warriormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this status was not yet formalized into fixed hierarchies. One of the reasons for this lack of formalized hierarchization was probably that it was difficult to monopolize the necessary raw materials -for example flint for the production of flint axes and daggers (Kristiansen & Earle, 2015;Sarauw, 2007) Copper and gold, on the other hand, held opportunities for control by powerful and influential lineages or individuals, as these metals could only be obtained through exchange. Consequently, if upcoming chiefs were able to monopolize external exchange, increased social stratification was thereby facilitated and might have led to the formation of self-perpetuating elites.…”

Section: Social Transformations and Chronological Implications For Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Big-Men and Small Chiefs: The Creation of Bronze Age Societies

Iversen

2017

Open Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper investigates to what extent the significant material changes observable at the end of the Neolithic reflect transformations of the underlying social dynamics. Answering this question will help us to understand the formation of Bronze Age societies. The analysis concerns southern Scandinavia with a certain focus on Denmark. The assumption is that the creation of Bronze Age societies must be understood as a long formative process that partly originated in the culturally-heterogeneous Middle Neolithic. Four aspects seem to have been essential to this process: the rise of the warrior figure, the reintroduction of metal, increased agricultural production, and the establishment of one of the characteristic features of the Bronze Age, the chieftain hall. These aspects do not appear simultaneously but are introduced stepby-step starting out in the late Middle Neolithic and early Late Neolithic to fully develop around 2000 BC. Consequently, this paper argues that the final Late Neolithic (LN II, c. 1950-1700 BC) was de facto part of the Earliest Bronze Age.

show abstract

“…and (4) What can be said about their way of life? For example, young males who died during episodes of warfare or were considered to be warriors may have been interred with this status clearly signified in the burial record (Treherne 1995;Sarauw 2007). Sofaer (2006) identified the academic division between the dead and living body as a false separation of analysis and interpretation (e.g., exemplified in the appended display and discussion of osteological data in site reports), and argued that this arbitrary disconnection does not reflect the true relationship between a person's life, body and underlying skeleton.…”

Section: Social and Cultural Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%