 The Virtual Armchair General  | 22 Apr 2020 11:54 a.m. PST |
Found this article from The Smithsonian that will definitely be of interest to Ancients Wargamers! link Enjoy! TVAG |
| Skeptic | 22 Apr 2020 12:23 p.m. PST |
Interesting stuff! Thanks! |
| Berzerker73 | 22 Apr 2020 12:51 p.m. PST |
Very interesting, thanks! |
Dn Jackson  | 22 Apr 2020 9:20 p.m. PST |
Agreed, quite interesting. |
| GurKhan | 23 Apr 2020 1:43 a.m. PST |
Excellent find. The original research article at link is worth a long read. I was interested to see that they found the Pylos combat agate (see TMP link) a useful illustration of the grip. |
| Skeptic | 23 Apr 2020 5:32 a.m. PST |
@GurKhan: Thank you for the link; the article is even offered through "open access"! |
| robert piepenbrink | 23 Apr 2020 6:33 a.m. PST |
Always interesting when, after generation of "scientific" skepticism, someone finally concedes that Homer knew what he was talking about. Thank you very much. |
| Zephyr1 | 23 Apr 2020 9:55 p.m. PST |
Good article. I like how it describes why the swords were the shape they were (and how they were used.) I don't think I'd be comfortable using one without a crossguard, however (I'd like to keep my fingers… ;-) |
 ochoin | 24 Apr 2020 5:45 a.m. PST |
This is good stuff but hardly new. Have you gentlemen seen this site: salimbeti.com/micenei Amongst others, Mike Loades has made videos on the topic and I can remember a "duel" between two "Bronze Age Warriors" and a subsequent talk that highlighted fighting techniques in the Edinburgh museum about 10 years ago. |
| Damion | 24 Apr 2020 5:38 p.m. PST |
ochoin, the academic community has largely ignored WMA for decades. Every couple of years some archaeologist "discovers" how vikings may have fought, or some other technique that the sword fighting community has known about for decades.
It's amazing that archaeologists and historians largely ignore the large number of images of warriors and gladiators fighting that are depicted on ancient artifacts and ancient art. The positions depicted line up quite nicely with images from medieval fightbooks and later sources.
I would think that structured fighting would go back to the stone age, our ancestors weren't stupid or progress would never have occurred. |
| wballard | 09 May 2020 10:35 p.m. PST |
Personally I'd be afraid to play with the guys in the image with the gambason and fencing mask. I know that I hit hard enough with rattan to seriously ruin their day and I'm way out of shape. They might be surprised to learn just how much padding you need to blunt sticks without actual armor over it as well. I would suggest that the organized and practice fighters survived at a higher rate then the others and passed on what worked in their time and region… Sort of a no brainer. |
