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A new analysis of dozens of arrowheads has helped researchers create a clearer picture of the warriors who clashed on Europe’s oldest battlefield 3,250 years ago.
Bronze and flint arrowheads were found from the Tollense Valley in northeastern Germany. Researchers first discovered the site in 1996 when amateur archaeologists found bones sticking out of the banks of the Tollense River.
Since then, excavations have uncovered 300 metal finds and 12,500 bones belonging to approximately 150 people who died in battle at the site in 1250 BC. Weapons recovered included swords, wooden clubs and various arrows – including some found still on his fallen bones.
No direct evidence of previous battles of this scale could be found, so the Tollense Valley is considered the oldest battlefield in Europe, according to researchers who have been studying the area since 2007.
Studies of the bones have provided some insight into the men – all young, strong and robust warriors, some with wounds that had healed from previous battles. But the details of who took part in the violent conflict, and why they fought in the bloody war, have long eluded researchers.
There were no inscriptions describing the battle, so a team of archaeologists unearthed more finds from the valley, using well-preserved remains and weapons to try to piece together the story behind the ancient battle scene.
Now, a team of researchers studying arrows used in the war have found evidence that they belong to local groups as well as armies from the south. The findings, published Sunday in the journal Antiquity, suggest the clash is the earliest example of interregional conflict in Europe – and call into question the state of organized armed violence thousands of years ago.
“Arrowheads are a kind of ‘smoking gun’,” said the study’s lead author Leif Inselmann, a researcher at the Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies at the Free University of Berlin, in a statement. “Like a murder weapon in a mystery, they provide clues about the culprit, the Tollense Valley warfighters and where they came from.”
Evidence of invasion
Previous discoveries of foreign artefacts, such as Bohemian bronze axes and swords from south-eastern Central Europe, and analysis of the remains have suggested that outside the battle in the Tollense Valley battle. But the researchers of the new study were curious to see what the arrow pointer would yield.
When Inselmann and his colleagues analyzed the arrows, they realized that no two were alike – not surprising before the days of mass production. But archaeologists can pick out key differences in shape and features that mean some of the arrows were not made in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a state in northeastern Germany that is home to the Tollense Valley.
Inselmann collected literature, data and samples of more than 4,700 Bronze Age arrows from Central Europe and mapped out where they came from to compare with Tollense Valley arrows.
Many match the style of arrowheads from other sites in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, suggesting they were made locally and brought by people called to the area, according to the study.
But other arrows with a straight base or a rhombus shape and side spurs and barbs correspond to the southern region that now includes modern Bavaria and Moravia, Inselmann said.
“This suggests that at least part of the fighters or even the full fighting factions that participated in the Tollense Valley came from very distant regions,” Inselmann wrote in an email.
Inselmann and his colleagues suspected that the crossbows were imported from other regions for use by local fighters. If not, they will find evidence of arrowheads in burial ceremonies in the area that took place during the Bronze Age.
The spark of war
A causeway that crosses the Tollense River, built about 500 years before the war, is thought to be the starting point of the conflict, said study author Thomas Terberger.
Terberger, a professor in the department of prehistoric and historical archeology at the University of Göttingen in Germany, has been studying the site, a 1.8-mile (3-kilometer) river, since 2007.
“The road may be part of an important trade route,” he said. “The control of this bottleneck situation may be an important reason for the conflict.”
However, the fact that researchers have not found clear evidence of sources of wealth, such as metal mines or places to extract salt, makes the theory of trade routes less likely, said Barry Molloy, an associate professor at the school. Archeology at University College Dublin. Molloy did not participate in the study.
“The causes of war are many, but perhaps in my opinion it is about a group that wants to impose political control on others – which is old – to generate wealth systematically over time, not just as a robbery,” Molloy. said in an email.
The exact scale and cause of the war remains unknown, but remains and weapons found so far indicate more than 2,000 people were involved, according to the study. And researchers believe that more human bones were deposited in the valley, which could represent hundreds of victims.
The 13th century BC was a time of increased trade and cultural exchange, but the discovery of bronze arrows in Germany also suggests that armed conflict also arose.
“This new information has greatly changed the picture of the Bronze Age, which was not as peaceful as previously believed,” said Terberger. “The 13th century BC experienced changes in burial ceremonies, symbols and material culture. I consider the conflict a sign that the main transformation process of Bronze Age society was accompanied by violent conflict. Tollense is probably only the tip of the iceberg.
The new study also revealed the location of arrow wounds found in remains buried at battle sites, suggesting that shields may have protected soldiers from the front, while the back was left behind.
The research highlights the importance of archery on the battlefield, which has often been overlooked in previous studies of Bronze Age warfare, Molloy said.
“This is a really convincing study that uses archaeological methods to great effect to give insight into the nature of this key prehistoric battle site, with regard to the aspects of the battlefield action and the participants involved,” he said. “The author makes a strong case that there were at least two competing forces and they came from different societies, with one group having traveled hundreds of kilometers. This is an important insight into the logistics behind the army that was in Tollense.
The scale of the conflict
Large-scale wars have researchers rethinking whether social organization and war were the same during the Bronze Age.
“Was the Bronze Age warrior (organized) a coalition of tribes, a retinue or mercenary army of a charismatic leader – a kind of ‘warlord’ – or even an early royal army?” Inselmann said.
For a long time, researchers argued that Bronze Age violence was a small affair involving dozens of individuals from local communities, but Tollense blew the theory wide open, Molloy said.
“We have many sites where we find evidence of mass killings and even the slaughter of whole communities,” Molloy said, “but this is the first time that the demographics of the dead are debatable as soldiers and not, for example, entire migrant families.”
Bronze Age societies built settlements and blacksmiths made weapons, but Tollense shows that both were not just about power, he said.
“Tollense shows that they were also made for real military purposes, including full-scale combat involving armies on the march, moving into hostile lands and fighting,” Molloy said.
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