Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume i
- General Introduction: Violence in World History
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Origins of Conflict
- 1 The Origins of Warfare and Violence
- 2 Violence in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherer Communities
- 3 Settled Lives, Unsettled Times: Neolithic Violence in Europe
- 4 Violence during the Later Stone Age of Southern Africa
- 5 Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Bronze Age Europe
- 6 Weapons, Ritual and Warfare: Violence in Iron Age Europe
- 7 The Origins of Violence and Warfare in the Japanese Islands
- Part II Prehistoric and Ancient Warfare
- Part III Intimate and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religion, Ritual and Violence
- Part V Violence, Crime and the State
- Part VI Representations and Constructions of Violence
- Index
- References
6 - Weapons, Ritual and Warfare: Violence in Iron Age Europe
from Part I - The Origins of Conflict
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2020
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume i
- General Introduction: Violence in World History
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Origins of Conflict
- 1 The Origins of Warfare and Violence
- 2 Violence in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherer Communities
- 3 Settled Lives, Unsettled Times: Neolithic Violence in Europe
- 4 Violence during the Later Stone Age of Southern Africa
- 5 Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Bronze Age Europe
- 6 Weapons, Ritual and Warfare: Violence in Iron Age Europe
- 7 The Origins of Violence and Warfare in the Japanese Islands
- Part II Prehistoric and Ancient Warfare
- Part III Intimate and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religion, Ritual and Violence
- Part V Violence, Crime and the State
- Part VI Representations and Constructions of Violence
- Index
- References
Summary
Evidence for violence and organised warfare in Iron Age Europe is varied and abundant, but it is not clear how frequently large-scale conflict occurred. Weapons, including especially swords, spears and lances, are common in graves and deposits. Defensive weapons, such as shields, helmets and body armour, also occur but are less common. The fortification of hilltops for defensive purposes is characteristic in much of Iron Age Europe. Representations of warriors, including stone statues bearing arms and scenes of marching troops, show how the weapons were deployed by soldiers. Only a few actual battlefields have been investigated. Weapons and landscape defences surely played important symbolic roles in the Iron Age, but the extent of armed conflict is not yet fully clear.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Violence , pp. 142 - 159Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
References
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