The bronze age arrow that changed my mind on ancient warfare tech

I was reading through a paper on the Tollense Valley battle site from 1250 BC and found out they recovered over 10,000 bones and 60 bronze arrowheads from one spot. One arrow was still lodged in a skull which is wild enough but the head was a specific type only found in southern Germany. So here's my debate - was this a local fight or evidence of a long distance raid from 400 miles away? I lean toward the raid theory but the logistics of moving that many warriors back then seems impossible. What do you all think based on the arrow evidence?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancyramirez2d ago

Check their teeth for isotopes... tells you where they grew up.

abby_fisher2d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man I really see it the other way... that arrow type just means they traded or had cultural connections, not necessarily a 400 mile hike with an army.

the_lucas2d ago

Isn't it funny how we assume the past was simpler but they probably had complex networks like we do with Amazon?