Book contents
- Warfare in Bronze Age Society
- Warfare in Bronze Age Society
- Copyright page
- Contents
- 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
- References
Chapter Nine - Carp’s-Tongue Swords and Their Use: Functional, Technological and Morphological Aspects
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 April 2018
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Book contents
- Warfare in Bronze Age Society
- Warfare in Bronze Age Society
- Copyright page
- Contents
- 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
- References
Summary
Finds of carp’s-tongue swords, dating from the beginning of the first millennium BC, are distributed over a wide geographical area. They comprise contexts of different cultural influences and feature a range of morphological variations, including great differences in length that we are going to exemplify with the Puertollano (Ciudad Real, Spain) hoard. In this work, the physical and technological characteristics of carp’s tongue swords, associated to their use as tools for combat, are going to be analyzed and related to their typological variants. By focusing in the shared traits that define their performance rather than in the different ways in which their functional objectives are achieved, an underlying common usage is proposed for this kind of weapon, spanning their whole area of exchange. This provides an additional tool to classify different features and help distinguishing between the technological improvements and cultural traits for these objects.
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- Warfare in Bronze Age Society , pp. 136 - 152Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018
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