Western European bronze age weapons

[JCT]

Can anyone tell me what were some of the common bronze age weapons in use in western europe? I ust want a general idea to build on.

[Medievalist]

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/explore/highlights/highlights_search_results.aspx?searchText=britain&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&submit=Go&withinResults=within&searchPrevious=bronze+age+weapons&currentPage=1

[alleycat]

I knew you'd be along shortly . . .

[Medievalist]

Well, you know, the Celts were bronze age :D

[alleycat]

If someone ever asks a question about ancient or medieval coins, I'll take that one.

[Death Wizard]

Here are a couple of books you could buy affordably on Amazon that have some pretty good info regarding your question:

Warriors and Warfare in Ancient and Medieval Times by Donald Featherstone;

Fighting Techniques of the Ancient World by Simon Anglim and four other writers.

[Medievalist]

If someone ever asks a question about ancient or medieval coins, I'll take that one.

You got a good source for Romano-Celtic/Gaulish coins?

[alleycat]

You got a good source for Romano-Celtic/Gaulish coins?
Not my specialty, but I'm a member of the American Numismatic Association and the American Numismatic Society and know a few dealers in those kind of items. I can probably point someone in the right direction.

I'm more interested in ancient Greek coins myself.

[JCT]

Wonderful, thanks!

[dclary]

Well, you know, the Celts were bronze age :D

That's what you call people of Larry Bird's generation?

[badducky]

Don't forget the sexually transmitted diseases and dysentry!

(The weapons that can lay low whole armies...)

[JCT]

I've got the pieces falling into place now for my psuedo bronze age fantasy world I'm gonna write some pulpish tales in. I have a general idea of what kind of weapons that be in play, the rather bare basics armor and some other ideas (no bows and arrows, they chuck javelin-like spears).

[l_clausewitz]

Celts were Iron Age, actually. If you're looking for Bronze Age cultures, then that'd be Minoan, Mycenaean, or Egyptian (though this last isn't really European).

Now, what you have to make clear is whether you're looking for Bronze Age weapons or bronze weapons in use at any age. If it's the latter, then you can go pretty far up into the Classical (Greek/Roman) era since these people still used bronze a lot even though they were essentially Iron Age societies (plus literacy). If the former...well, the recommendations given here are already good enough, but I'd also like to refer you to a fairly decent page on the weapons of ancient Egypt. It's not something you can base a serious scientific work upon but it's more than good enough as a resource for fiction writers.

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/weapons/index.html

[Medievalist]

Urnfield cultures are Bronze age, and current thinking is that the urnfield cultures of Britain and Ireland were Celtic speakers, based on DNA analysis of the contents of said urns.

The Celtic iron age is generally dated to around 500 B.C.

[l_clausewitz]

However, the Celts of popular culture--Scots, Irish, Gauls, and Caesar's Britons--were Iron Age cultures.

(You can probably see that I don't like the term "Celt" at all--it's way too vague to be meanigful in discussing specific cultures.)

BTW, here's an interesting site about the reproduction of European Bronze Age weapons:

http://1500bc.com/bronzeage/nf_bronzes_eng.html

[Medievalist]

However, the Celts of popular culture--Scots, Irish, Gauls, and Caesar's Britons--were Iron Age cultures.

(You can probably see that I don't like the term "Celt" at all--it's way too vague to be meanigful in discussing specific cultures.)

Urp.

That's a serious can of worms in Celtic studies, dude. You really don't wanna be going there with me.

I've seen Kim McCone and Barry Cunliffe on this in their cups.

[Selimthegrim]

However, the Celts of popular culture--Scots, Irish, Gauls, and Caesar's Britons--were Iron Age cultures.

(You can probably see that I don't like the term "Celt" at all--it's way too vague to be meanigful in discussing specific cultures.)

BTW, here's an interesting site about the reproduction of European Bronze Age weapons:

http://1500bc.com/bronzeage/nf_bronzes_eng.html

I know Jeroen, the guy who wrote that website. Very cool guy, very knowledgeable about bronzes. If you're looking for some images of faithfully reproduced bronze age swords, then I would look here: http://www.bronze-age-craft.com/swords_for_sale.htm Jeroen gave this guy a glowing recommendation. You might be able to talk to Jeroen on Sword Forum International, but the place has gotten a lot quieter in the last year, so I don't know if he still posts.

In answer to the original question, bronze age weapons included short swords, spears, daggers, and the bow and arrow. Some of the bronze age swords can be fairly long, but the only really long bronze swords I've seen are the two-handed jian from China. So, that's out of the scope of the question.

[JCT]

Celts were Iron Age, actually. If you're looking for Bronze Age cultures, then that'd be Minoan, Mycenaean, or Egyptian (though this last isn't really European).

Now, what you have to make clear is whether you're looking for Bronze Age weapons or bronze weapons in use at any age. If it's the latter, then you can go pretty far up into the Classical (Greek/Roman) era since these people still used bronze a lot even though they were essentially Iron Age societies (plus literacy). If the former...well, the recommendations given here are already good enough, but I'd also like to refer you to a fairly decent page on the weapons of ancient Egypt. It's not something you can base a serious scientific work upon but it's more than good enough as a resource for fiction writers.

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/weapons/index.html

Well, I'm thinking everyone in my world uses bronze age era weapons because no one has thought of iron yet. With magic, people are less motivated to seek better out. Maybe in the future of this world, everyone will, but for now, they use bronze. In other ways, they'd be further along but not when it comes to weapons.

[l_clausewitz]

Who else could I have got that link from? It's all Jeroen's fault. ;)

In that case (looking specifically for Bronze Age weapons, that is), the second link would serve you well since it refers to axes and spearheads as well as swords and knives.

BTW, bronze was superior to iron for quite a long time--especially around the 8th or 7th century B.C. (?) when bronzeworking was at its finest and ironworking was still not fully developed. So there might actually be a reason for preferring bronze weapons over iron ones even in an Iron Age setting.

(And now I can't help thinking that the magic might have something to do with finding or creating tin, since that's one of the things that made bronze a rather expensive commodity.)

As for "Celts," it's just that I get tired of seeing people discussing Celts without establishing their boundaries for the term, because sometimes they get into a flame war just because one was talking about the Celts of Britain immediately preceding the Roman Conquest, one was talking of the Celts as if they were a single monolithic culture that spanned the whole northern half of Europe, and another was talking about New Age "Celts." It's funny to watch at first but gets tiresome after a while.

[JCT]

And now I can't help thinking that the magic might have something to do with finding or creating tin, since that's one of the things that made bronze a rather expensive commodity.

I never thought of that--great idea!