Thousands of bones and hundreds of weapons reveal grisly insights into a 3,250-year-old battle

C(linton) N(on) N(ews) ^ | September 24, 2024 | Ashley Strickland, CNN

[SunkenCiv]

There are no written accounts describing the battle, so as teams of archaeologists have unearthed more finds from the valley, they have used the well-preserved remains and weapons to try to piece together the story behind the ancient battle scene.

Now, a team of researchers studying arrowheads used in the battle has discovered evidence that it included local groups as well as an army from the south. These findings, published Sunday in the journal Antiquity, suggest the clash was the earliest example of interregional conflict in Europe — and raise questions about the state of organized, armed violence thousands of years ago...

Previous discoveries of foreign artifacts, such as a Bohemian bronze ax and a sword from southeastern Central Europe, and analyses of the remains have suggested that outsiders fought in the Tollense Valley battle. But the researchers of the new study were curious to see what clues the arrowheads would yield.

When Inselmann and his colleagues analyzed the arrowheads, they realized that no two were identical — not exactly shocking before the days of mass production. But the archaeologists could pick out key differences in the shapes and features that signified some of the arrowheads were not made within Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a state in northeast Germany that's home to the Tollense Valley.

Inselmann collected literature, data and examples of more than 4,700 Bronze Age arrowheads from Central Europe and mapped out where they came from to compare them with the Tollense Valley arrowheads.

Many matched the style of arrowheads from other sites in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, suggesting they were locally made and carried by men who called the region home, according to the study.

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the Tollense Valley keyword, sorted:

• 'Europe's oldest battle' in Germany's Tollense Valley 3,250 years ago may actually have been a brutal MASSACRE of 1,400 Bronze Age merchants [10/26/2020]
• Lactose tolerance spread throughout Europe in only a few thousand years [09/16/2020]
• Lost in Combat? [3000 years ago] [10/18/2019]
• What Europe's most ancient battlefield reveals [10/09/2017]
• For Peaceable Humans, Don't Look to Prehistory [07/01/2016]
• Unexpected and Gruesome Battle of 1250 BC Involved 4,000 Men from Across Northern Europe [03/25/2016]
• "Early Bronze Age battle site found on German river bank" [05/22/2011]
• Early Bronze Age battle site found on German river bank [05/22/2011]
• Archaeologists find bones from prehistoric war in Germany [10/11/2008]

[SunkenCiv]

An ancient skull recovered from the Tollense Valley site was found perforated with a bronze arrowhead.

Volker Minkus/Minkusimages

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks for the link!

[sopo]

Why was the long bow at Agincort such a technologic innovation when they were shooting arrows around for millenia?

[mairdie]

Fascinating. Gruesome, but fascinating.

[marktwain]

Why was the long bow at Agincort such a technologic innovation when they were shooting arrows around for millenia?

It wasn't just the bow.

There exist enormous differences between bows.

The English Longbow shot heavy arrow to long distances. Archers were trained for decades to develop skill and muscles.

English archers were recognized as superior to most others.

[pierrem15]

Why was the long bow at Agincort such a technologic innovation when they were shooting arrows around for millenia?

Power: the English longbows were among the most powerful bows ever made. They had a long range and would go through poorly made armor if they had a good steel, penetrating head.

[MCF]

It wasn’t an innovation. It just happen to be the right weapon, at the right place, at the right time.

[It Aint Easy]

and raise questions about the state of organized, armed violence thousands of years ago...

Surely this must be wrong, organized armed violence is unheard of before the "far right-wing" groups of our times.

[Nateman]

This battle took place about 50 years before Civilization collapsed. While Northern Germany is far away from the Mediterranean Sea they did travel hundreds of miles to fight here. Just a coincidence or related?

[fidelis]

Face it: This is the only thing human beings, left to their own devices, have been really good at.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

It was getting colder and drier for several decades prior and the effect would have been felt in the north before the Mediterranean area.

The Tollense area they were fighting over was a river valley that would have been slightly warmer and had a steady supply of water.

[Flag_This]

"Why was the long bow at Agincort such a technologic innovation when they were shooting arrows around for millenia?"

The French are just slow learners. The longbow had helped defeat the French at Crecy in 1346, and Poitiers in 1356.

[Inyo-Mono]

Ouch!

[dp0622]

You’re gonna wake up with a brutal headache after that!

Probably for a week! :)

[DannyTN]

After 3250 years, I was so tired of that battle. I thought it would never end.

[wardaddy]

And the English archers due to required practice were freakishly strong upper torso and arms

They say you could spot an archer just by physique say like u would a rugby hooker in the front of the scrum by his thighs but with the archer his chest and arms
They were also expected to fight close quarters when need be

Some foes killed them on the spot if captured

Like I would some nerd drone operator today if I caught him in a command vehicle killing my buddies while having a pepsi

[Bookshelf]

War, not necessity, is the mother of invention.

[bert]

Necessity to win a war is the mother of invention

Ukranian jet drone that destroyed massive Russan munition stocks

[Red Badger]

OUCH!

That’s gonna leave a scar!........................