| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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Paleolithic Patjitan culture in Java had stone tools like hand-axes that could have been used for or developed into a weapon of war.
[1]
According to the Chinese Nan chou i wu chih (A Record of Strange Things in the Southern Regions) written about 222-228 CE a volcanic country called ’Ge-ying’ (thought to be western Java) traded with the Malay Peninsula and imported horses from India. They were used by warriors.
[2]
Dewawarman I may have founded Salakanagara in west West Java 130 CE. He followed Aji Saka who may have introduced ’Buddhism, letters, calendar, etc.’) into Central and East Java 78 CE.
[3]
[1]: (Barstra 1976, 77) Gert-Jan Bartstra. 1976. Contributions to the Study of the Palaeolithic Patjitan Culture Java, Indonesia. Part 1. Volume 6. E J BRILL. Leiden. [2]: (Miksic and Goh 2017, 215) John Norman Miksic. Geok Yian Goh. Routledge. 2017. Ancient Southeast Asia. London. p. 215 [3]: (Iguchi 2015) Masatoshi Iguchi. 2015. Java Essay: The History and Culture of a Southern Country. Troubador Publishing Ltd. |
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Paleolithic Patjitan culture in Java had stone tools like hand-axes that could have been used for or developed into a weapon of war.
[1]
According to the Chinese Nan chou i wu chih (A Record of Strange Things in the Southern Regions) written about 222-228 CE a volcanic country called ’Ge-ying’ (thought to be western Java) traded with the Malay Peninsula and imported horses from India. They were used by warriors.
[2]
Dewawarman I may have founded Salakanagara in west West Java 130 CE. He followed Aji Saka who may have introduced ’Buddhism, letters, calendar, etc.’) into Central and East Java 78 CE.
[3]
[1]: (Barstra 1976, 77) Gert-Jan Bartstra. 1976. Contributions to the Study of the Palaeolithic Patjitan Culture Java, Indonesia. Part 1. Volume 6. E J BRILL. Leiden. [2]: (Miksic and Goh 2017, 215) John Norman Miksic. Geok Yian Goh. Routledge. 2017. Ancient Southeast Asia. London. p. 215 [3]: (Iguchi 2015) Masatoshi Iguchi. 2015. Java Essay: The History and Culture of a Southern Country. Troubador Publishing Ltd. |
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"Lesser weapons were also employed by knights after 1050. Special forms of ax, hammer (bec), mace, club, and flail were introduced in the 12th and 13th centuries to supplement the sword, but it was only after 1300 that these were both fully developed and commonly used."
[1]
[1]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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"Lesser weapons were also employed by knights after 1050. Special forms of ax, hammer (bec), mace, club, and flail were introduced in the 12th and 13th centuries to supplement the sword, but it was only after 1300 that these were both fully developed and commonly used."
[1]
[1]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
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Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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They could have used battle axes if they had wished. Were present under the Sui.
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Axe head found.
[1]
[1]: (http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/badari/tools.html) |
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Academic histories of warfare and weaponry in Egypt stop mentioning axes and maces once they reach the New Kingdom, suggesting they fell out of fashion.
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The socket axe was introduced by the Hyksos but axe technology remained behind that of Sumer even for some time afterwards. Egyptians previously had used a cutting axe with the blade insecurely tied to the shaft without a socket.
[1]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61-63) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Academic histories of warfare and weaponry in Egypt stop mentioning axes and maces once they reach the New Kingdom, suggesting they gradually fell out of fashion.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Axes were an infantry weapon.
[1]
"The seax was a cross between an ax and a short sword. It was single edged, made of iron, and was used for hacking rather than piercing."
[2]
[1]: (Butt 2002, 42) John J Butt. 2002. Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne. Greenwood Publishing Group. Westport. [2]: (Butt 2002, 43) John J Butt. 2002. Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne. Greenwood Publishing Group. Westport. |
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Inferred from previous quasi-polities.
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Finds within France during this time period but not close to Paris Basin region.
[1]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) |
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Hache / axe.
[1]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) |
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There are some almost axe-like weapons at contact, but they should probably be treated as clubs.
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There are some almost axe-like weapons, but they should probably be treated as clubs.
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No references in the literature. RA.
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Common in the region for over a millennium, but during the Hellenistic era axes were typically used only by light or irregular infantry.
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Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[1]
[1]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. |
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"As with the rest of the Near East, there is little evidence for warfare in Neolithic Mesopotamia."
[1]
[1]: (Hamblin 2006: 33) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4WM3RBTD. |
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[1]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
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Present in previous and subsequent periods.
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Used in clannish period before introduction of Hoplite equipment c600 BCE.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
The axe was known in the region, hence there is no reason to believe that they wouldn’t have used them in warfare. Traditional Khmer weapons later depicted in Angkor include the a battle axe known as phka’k, which was carried by high ranking officials.
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, 49) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007, 24) |
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Present in Egypt at this time
[1]
- the regime in the Morocco probably used weapons similar to those of its neighbours. We could also check - as yet unconsulted - references for Christians in contemporary Iberia who may have been used as mercenaries.
[1]: (Nicolle 2014) Nicolle, D. 2014 Mamluk Askar 1250-1517. Osprey Publishing Ltd. |
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For comparison, here is a description of an early warrior on the Eastern Steppe Early Sarmatian (400-200 BCE) from the region of the Don, Volga and Urals (Eastern Steppe). “Early Sarmatian heavy-armed warrior wore a forged-iron helmet with a nose piece and cheek pieces. Scale armor of leather protected his body. He carried a twig-woven quiver for a bow and sometimes more than 200 arrows, covered with leather and decorated with an umbor, an arms belt with a buckle for crossing the belts; a richly decorated quiver hook; a long spear with a massive head and spike; a short iron akinakes sword; and iron axe. This complete image recalls a picture from a novel featuring medieval western European knights; these Sarmatian ’proto-types,’ however, are 2,000 years older.”
[1]
"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[2]
[1]: (Yablonsky 2010, 142) Leonid Teodorovich Yablonsky. Jan 2010. New Excavations of the Early Nomadic Burial Ground at Filippovka (Southern Ural Region, Russia). American Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 114. No. 1. pp. 129-143. [2]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include axes. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Listed by Hassig.
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 248) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
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Ghaznavid and Ghurid armies: "scattered but substantial evidence ... cavalry wielded, in addition to bows and arrows, weapons such as battle-axes, maces, lances, spears, sabres, and long, curved swords (qalachurs), while whatever (non-Turkish) infantry there was carried bows, maces, short swords and spears".
[1]
[1]: (Wink 1997, 90) Andre Wink. 1997. Al-Hind the Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume II: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest 11th-13th Centuries. BRILL. Leiden. |
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Hache / axe.
[1]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) |
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Hache / axe.
[1]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) |
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Finds close to Paris Basin region.
[1]
Battle axe more common in the East Hallstatt area while in the Western Hallstatt region use of the dagger and sword was more common.
[2]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Koch ed. 2006, 1469) John T. Koch ed. Celtic Culture. A historical Encyclopedia. Volume I. A-Celti. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara. |
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"The Yakut axe (), is no less ancient in shape. Despite the fact that the Yakut name for it is exactly the same as its Mongol name - suge, it differs greatly from the Mongol axe. It is narrow, about two and one-half or three inches wide, even, with a narrow butt, lacks a puncher or a butt edge, and has a straight, thin cutting edge. These features, and also the size of the axe, bring it very close to the Siberian axes of the late Bronze Age. Punchers, butt edges, rounded points, and great width around the butt are now found increasingly oftener, and the Yakut themselves are conscious that this is a very recent Russian innovation."
[1]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 637 |
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Examples from Kiiltepe, Sivas and Bogazkoy
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Varangian guard carried an axe.
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Varangian guard carried an axe.
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[1]
[2]
[1]: Excavations at Can Hasan: Fourth Preliminary Report 1964, D. H. French Source: Anatolian Studies, Vol. 15 1965, British Institute at Ankara, pp.90 [2]: Excavations at Can Hasan, 1965: Fifth Preliminary Report, D. H. French Source: Anatolian Studies, Vol. 16 1966, British Institute at Ankara, pp. 118 |
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Examples from Kiiltepe, Sivas and Bogazkoy
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Examples from Kiiltepe, Sivas and Bogazkoy
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No information in the archaeological evidence for this time
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used throughout the Hittite times
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Use of atlatls, war clubs, battle axes and polearms does not appear to be supported by evidence.
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Not mentioned in literature
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The Iroquois used stone axes, until later in the 17th century when their war axes were made of European metals. Their axes were also used for woodworking, butchering, and hide scraping.
[1]
[1]: (Engelbrecht 2003: 8, 133) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/FJ3EAI76. |
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"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
The Sassanids had battleaxe.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. |
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"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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Ge blades: "The workshops include bronze foundries to the north and south, a bone workshop to the north, and a pottery work- shop to the west. Pollution and the danger of fire were no doubt sufficient reasons for locating foundries and kilns outside the city. Judging from mold fragments, the foundries produced vessels, craft tools, and a few weapons (ge blades and arrowheads)."
[1]
Ko dagger-axes: "a transverse dagger-shaped bronze blade"
[2]
At Panlongcheng "a pair of broad-blade axes (yue)".
[3]
[1]: (Bagley 1999, 166) [2]: (Peers 2013, 6) [3]: (Thorp 2013, 106) Thorp, Robert L. 2013. China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization.University of Pennsylvania Press. |
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Ge blades: "The workshops include bronze foundries to the north and south, a bone workshop to the north, and a pottery work- shop to the west. Pollution and the danger of fire were no doubt sufficient reasons for locating foundries and kilns outside the city. Judging from mold fragments, the foundries produced vessels, craft tools, and a few weapons (ge blades and arrowheads)."
[1]
Ko dagger-axes: "a transverse dagger-shaped bronze blade"
[2]
At Panlongcheng "a pair of broad-blade axes (yue)".
[3]
[1]: (Bagley 1999, 166) [2]: (Peers 2013, 6) [3]: (Thorp 2013, 106) Thorp, Robert L. 2013. China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization.University of Pennsylvania Press. |
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Axes for subsistence, but could probably have been used for warfare. At Miaodigou II (Early Longshan) sites in Central Henan "The stone tools include fu 斧 axes, ben 锛 adzes, chan 铲 shovels, and zu 镞 arrowheads. The bone tools include zhui 锥 awls, zhen 针 needles, zu arrowheads, and yucha 鱼叉 spears for fishing."
[1]
[1]: (Zhao 2013, 238) |
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Stone axes used as tools, no mention of axes used as weapons in sources.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Liu and Chen 2012: 143) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/DE5TU7HY. [2]: (Peregrine 2001: 283) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QUL2KD3Z. |
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They could have used battle axes if they had wished. Were present under the Sui.
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"Sampling these structures also turned up the initial evidence of place-making practices taking place during terrace rebuilding, since a number of complete cooking and drinking vessels, stone axe-heads, and carnelian and translucent quartz beads were recovered from terrace fill. In this sense, the results overturn and contradict previously held assumptions regarding Neguanje period society, the locations of Neguanje sites, and provide extremely important information on the relationship between the Neguanje and Tairona periods."
[1]
In the case of the later Tairona, axes were either agricultural tools or ritual implements.
[1]: (Giraldo 2010, 79) |
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"During the sampling process, the shovel tests also revealed that Tairona period objects such as complete cooking vessels, treasure jars, drinking cups, miniature pots, axeheads, and beads were intentionally deposited in the layer of fill below the terrace surface (Figure 3.13)."
[1]
Returning to the problem of the axes, archaeological evidence is clearer, as they are consistently associated with other polished stone artefacts. We can discard the idea that the Taironas used them in warfare, as there is enough ethnohistorical evidence showing that they were archers who occasionally used clubs for combat. "Volviendo al problema de las hachas, la evidencia arqueológica es algo más clara, ya que constantemente aparecen asociadas a otros tipos de artefactos en piedra pulida. Podemos dar por descontado el que los taironas las usaran en la guerra, ya que hay suficiente evidencia etnohistórica que demuestra que eran "indios flecheros" que usaban el arco y ocasionalmente macanas para el combate (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1951:87)."
[2]
[1]: (Giraldo 2010, 106) [2]: (Giraldo 2000, 60) |
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"Throughout the Dynastic Period of the most commonly used weapon was the axe. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms the conventional axe usually consisted of a semicircular copper head (see figures 23a and 24) tied to a wooden handle by cords, threaded through perforations in the copper and wrapped around lugs. At this stage there was little difference between the battleaxe and the woodworker’s axe. In the Middle Kingdom, however, some battleaxes had longer blades with concave sides narrowing down to a curved edge (figure 23b)"
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 36) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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Harner reports the use of axes: ’The relative isolation of the interior Jívaro, however, had not prevented them from obtaining increasing quantities of machetes, steel axes, and shotguns. By means of neighborhood-to-neighborhood relays of native trading partners, these products of Western civilization were passed from the frontier Jívaro into the most remote parts of the tribal territory. All of the interior Jívaro neighborhoods were thus supplied with steel cutting tools, firearms, and ammunition without the necessity of coming into direct contact with the white population.’
[1]
It is unclear which time period he is referring to. It remains to be confirmed when exactly the Shuar started to acquire iron and steel tools. Other writers report copper axes for the colonial period: "Salinas, writing in 1571 (second letter), says that the Indians in the vicinity of Santiago have copper axes, ( ) shields made of tapir skin and of wood, and spear throwers."
[2]
[1]: Harner, Michael J. 1973. “Jívaro: People Of The Sacred Waterfalls.”, 39 [2]: Stirling, Matthew Williams. 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians.”, 78-79 |
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The relative isolation of the interior Shuar, however, had not prevented them from obtaining increasing quantities of machetes, steel axes, and shotguns. By means of neighborhood-to-neighborhood relays of native trading partners, these products of Western civilization were passed from the frontier Shuar into the most remote parts of the tribal territory. All of the interior Shuar neighborhoods were thus supplied with steel cutting tools, firearms, and ammunition without the necessity of coming into direct contact with the white population.
[1]
[1]: Harner, Michael J. 1973. “Jívaro: People Of The Sacred Waterfalls.”, 39 |
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"Throughout the Dynastic Period of the most commonly used weapon was the axe. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms the conventional axe usually consisted of a semicircular copper head (see figures 23a and 24) tied to a wooden handle by cords, threaded through perforations in the copper and wrapped around lugs. At this stage there was little difference between the battleaxe and the woodworker’s axe. In the Middle Kingdom, however, some battleaxes had longer blades with concave sides narrowing down to a curved edge (figure 23b)"
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 36) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"Throughout the Dynastic Period of the most commonly used weapon was the axe. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms the conventional axe usually consisted of a semicircular copper head (see figures 23a and 24) tied to a wooden handle by cords, threaded through perforations in the copper and wrapped around lugs. At this stage there was little difference between the battleaxe and the woodworker’s axe. In the Middle Kingdom, however, some battleaxes had longer blades with concave sides narrowing down to a curved edge (figure 23b)"
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 36) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"Throughout the Dynastic Period of the most commonly used weapon was the axe. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms the conventional axe usually consisted of a semicircular copper head (see figures 23a and 24) tied to a wooden handle by cords, threaded through perforations in the copper and wrapped around lugs. At this stage there was little difference between the battleaxe and the woodworker’s axe. In the Middle Kingdom, however, some battleaxes had longer blades with concave sides narrowing down to a curved edge (figure 23b)"
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 36) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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Present.
[1]
What did this reference say? Was it a tool? There was no/little armour in Egyptian warfare so why was the axe used? The socket axe, introduced by the Hyksos, was not used. Egyptians used a cutting axe with the blade insecurely tied to the shaft without a socket.
[2]
Ideally this variable should be split as there was a great difference in performance between these two axes. "The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)."
[3]
[1]: Gilbert, G. P. 2004. Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt. BAR International Series 1208: Oxford. pg: 34-70, 166-183 [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 63, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [3]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"Throughout the Dynastic Period of the most commonly used weapon was the axe. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms the conventional axe usually consisted of a semicircular copper head (see figures 23a and 24) tied to a wooden handle by cords, threaded through perforations in the copper and wrapped around lugs. At this stage there was little difference between the battleaxe and the woodworker’s axe. In the Middle Kingdom, however, some battleaxes had longer blades with concave sides narrowing down to a curved edge (figure 23b)"
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 36) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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Academic histories of warfare and weaponry in Egypt stop mentioning axes and maces once they reach the New Kingdom, suggesting they gradually fell out of fashion.
|
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Weapons included the battle-axe.
[1]
"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[2]
[1]: (Majumdar and Altekar 1986, 277) Anant Sadashiv Altekar. The Administrative Organisation. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar. Anant Sadashiv Altekar. 1986. Vakataka - Gupta Age Circa 200-550 A.D. Motilal Banarsidass. Delhi. [2]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. |
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|
"Throughout the Dynastic Period of the most commonly used weapon was the axe. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms the conventional axe usually consisted of a semicircular copper head (see figures 23a and 24) tied to a wooden handle by cords, threaded through perforations in the copper and wrapped around lugs. At this stage there was little difference between the battleaxe and the woodworker’s axe. In the Middle Kingdom, however, some battleaxes had longer blades with concave sides narrowing down to a curved edge (figure 23b)"
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 36) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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Hyksos imported axes "without number" i.e. a lot.
[1]
"While in Sumer the sickle-sword quickly gave way to the penetrating axe, in Egypt it remained a major weapon until the seventeenth century B.C." when the socket axe was introduced by the Hyksos.
[2]
[1]: (Bourriau 2003, 182) [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 63, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Academic histories of warfare and weaponry in Egypt stop mentioning axes once they reach the New Kingdom, suggesting they fell out of fashion.
|
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Did Spanish soldiers ever use New World weapons? Inferred use (even if rarely) against the Incas and Aztecs by Spanish soldiers. Used against the Spanish by the Incas.
[1]
[1]: (Pemberton 2011, preview) Pemberton, John. 2011. Conquistadors: Searching for El Dorado: The Terrifying Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires. Canary Press eBooks Limited. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3SI549GS |
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"Bronze was obviously used by the Earlier Bronze Age peoples, b u t its uses were surprisingly limited. Bronze was widely used for weapons, particularly swords, for axes, and for clothing pins, but otherwise the use of bronze was largely restricted to personal ornaments such as torcs, anklets, and the like. In many ways the Earlier Bronze Age saw no marked departure from earlier technology, despite the beginnings of bronze production."
[1]
[1]: (Peregrine 2001, 413) |
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"The need for prestige goods probably underlies the widespread adoption of new styles of pottery, particularly Corded Ware and Beakers, which were associated with other distinctive artifacts, such as battle-axes, archery equipment, and ornaments of metal and other exotic materials."
[1]
possibly ritual use though?
[1]: (McIntosh 2006, 55-58) |
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Lances, swords, crossbowmen, longbows, pikemen were of central importance on the battlefield for at least 200 years after the first guns until the Battle of Carignola (1503 CE) which was probably decided by guns and Marignano (1515 CE) when Swiss squares were beaten by cavalry shooting pistols and cannon artillery.
[1]
The first Bourbon era 1589-1660 CE is firmly after the transition to firearm dominance so at this time the old weapons must have played only a minor role in warfare or had been completely abandoned.
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 367) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Common 12th century infantry weapon.
[1]
"Lesser weapons were also employed by knights after 1050. Special forms of ax, hammer (bec), mace, club, and flail were introduced in the 12th and 13th centuries to supplement the sword, but it was only after 1300 that these were both fully developed and commonly used."
[2]
[1]: (Nicolle 1991, 6) [2]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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Axes were an infantry weapon.
[1]
"The seax was a cross between an ax and a short sword. It was single edged, made of iron, and was used for hacking rather than piercing."
[2]
[1]: (Butt 2002, 42) John J Butt. 2002. Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne. Greenwood Publishing Group. Westport. [2]: (Butt 2002, 43) John J Butt. 2002. Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne. Greenwood Publishing Group. Westport. |
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e.g. battle axes were found in the graves at Asur.
[1]
Late 3rd - early 2md millennium BCE text: "He shall take my axe whose metal is tin, he shall wield my dagger which is of iron."
[2]
[1]: Rutkowski 2007, 23 [2]: Lugalbanda in the mountain cave: c.1.8.2.1. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. |
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Finds close to Paris Basin region.
[1]
Battle axe more common in the East Hallstatt area while in the Western Hallstatt region use of the dagger and sword was more common.
[2]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Koch ed. 2006, 1469) John T. Koch ed. Celtic Culture. A historical Encyclopedia. Volume I. A-Celti. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara. |
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Common 12th century infantry weapon.
[1]
"Lesser weapons were also employed by knights after 1050. Special forms of ax, hammer (bec), mace, club, and flail were introduced in the 12th and 13th centuries to supplement the sword, but it was only after 1300 that these were both fully developed and commonly used."
[2]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: "On horseback, the principal weapon was a 10-foot-long wooden lance carried with a small wedge-shaped shield and sometimes a short, steel-handled battleaxe."
[3]
[1]: (Nicolle and McBridge 1991, 6) [2]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. [3]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: "On horseback, the principal weapon was a 10-foot-long wooden lance carried with a small wedge-shaped shield and sometimes a short, steel-handled battleaxe."
[1]
[1]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Colonial sources describe only the use of ceremonial axes with an agricultural connotation: ’In 1881 a crisis occurred in relations between the British and Asante, and the Golden Axe was brought out again. A refugee from Kumase fled to Cape Coast and claimed British protection. A day later a senior delegation arrived, bearing the Golden Axe, and demanded he be returned to Kumase. The British saw the axe as a symbol of aggression and a threat, taking a literal view of its meaning. [...] the real meaning of the axe was more subtle: it showed the Asante determination to cut through all blockages on the path to a settlement.’
[1]
This is open to re-evaluation.
[1]: McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 106 |
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The sources describe only the use of ceremonial axes: ’In 1881 a crisis occurred in relations between the British and Asante, and the Golden Axe was brought out again. A refugee from Kumase fled to Cape Coast and claimed British protection. A day later a senior delegation arrived, bearing the Golden Axe, and demanded he be returned to Kumase. The British saw the axe as a symbol of aggression and a threat, taking a literal view of its meaning. [...] the real meaning of the axe was more subtle: it showed the Asante determination to cut through all blockages on the path to a settlement.’
[1]
[1]: McLeod, M. D. (Malcolm D.) 1981. “Asante”, 106 |
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"Preserved seals and stone vessels show daggers, spears and swordsmen. Images of double-headed axes and boar’s tusk helmets are also common in Cretian art, Molloy reported."EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: http://www.livescience.com/26275-peaceful-minoans-surprisingly-warlike.html
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There are some almost axe-like weapons at contact, but they should probably be treated as clubs.
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Secondary weapons of the heavy cavalryman "included a long sword, axe, mace and dagger."
[1]
Secondary weapons for the horse-archers: "Axes, short swords, daggers and sometimes long swords were secondary weapons worn at the belt."
[2]
[1]: (Penrose 2008, 224) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Penrose 2008, 225) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. |
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"There have been several finds of stone or terracotta valves from the bivalve molds used for casting cuprous axes from sites in Java, Sabah, the Talaud Islands, Palawan, and Batanes, all of which show quite conclusively that some casting of either local or imported raw materials was being carried out during the early to middle first millennium ce."
[1]
Dewawarman I may have founded Salakanagara in west West Java 130 CE. He followed Aji Saka who may have introduced ’Buddhism, letters, calendar, etc.’) into Central and East Java 78 CE.
[2]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[3]
The ruling class were Hindu Indians and their contemporaries in the Indian Chalukyan Kingdom had "swords, shields, spears, clubs, lances, bows and arrows etc."
[4]
[1]: (Bellwood 2017 :318) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6SNCDM28. [2]: (Iguchi 2015) Masatoshi Iguchi. 2015. Java Essay: The History and Culture of a Southern Country. Troubador Publishing Ltd. [3]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. [4]: (Sreenivasa Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1975, 93) H V Sreenivasa Murthy and R Ramakrishnan. 1975. A History of Karnataka. Vivek Prakashan. |
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Coded present based on this reference.
[1]
Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[2]
The switch-over did not occur until the end of the Kediri Kingdom: it was the Singhasari Kingdom that witnessed ’the decline of Hindu culture and civilisation in Java and the succession of Javanese culture.’
[3]
Temple reliefs from earlier periods contain murals showing clubs, swords, bows and arrows, spears, shields, armour, knives, halberds.
[4]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[5]
[1]: (Sedwayati in Ooi 2004 (b), 707) [2]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [3]: (Rao 2005, 213) B V Rao. 2005. History of Asia. Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. New Dawn Press, Inc. Elgin. [4]: (Draeger 1972, 23, 27) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. [5]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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"Weapons, notably axes, clubs, swords, and daggers, seem to have been Indian, though the curved swords are of a later type than those on the Central Javanese reliefs. The reappearance of the spear in these reliefs, while the use of the bow is confined to human heroes, suggests an increasing pressure to resume use of local types of weapons."
[1]
[1]: (Powell 2002, 325) John Powell. 2002. Weapons & Warfare: Ancient and medieval weapons and warfare (to 1500). Salem Press. |
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Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[1]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[2]
In southern India at this time (Rashtrakuta dynasty) military technology included "the sword, the trident or spear, the javelin, the battleaxe, the shield, etc."
[3]
; while their Chalukya predecessors had "swords, shields, spears, clubs, lances, bows and arrows etc."
[4]
[1]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [2]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. [3]: (Ramachandra Murthy 1994, 116) N S Ramachandra Murthy. 1994. Military Administration of the Rashtrakutas in the Telugu Country. B R Gopal. ed. The Rashtrakutas of Malkhed. [4]: (Sreenivasa Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1975, 93) H V Sreenivasa Murthy and R Ramakrishnan. 1975. A History of Karnataka. Vivek Prakashan. |
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Military equipment depicted on the Bhilsa Topes statues include axe and battle-axe.
[1]
The Bhilsa topes are Buddhist monuments from central India thought to date to c100 BCE.
[1]: (Egerton 2002, 12) Wilbraham Egerton. 2002 (1880). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
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"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[1]
[1]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. |
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|
"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[1]
[1]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. |
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Found in burials
[1]
Indus Civilization used flat axes of copper and bronze. “The shorter axes with a deep and circular edge suggest weapons of war.” These are also found at Lothal and in south western India at Rangpur.
[2]
[1]: J. Sudyka, The "Megalithic" Iron Age Culture in South India: Some General Remarks (2011), Analecta Archaeologica Ressoviensia 5: pp. 359-401 [2]: (Singh 1997, 88) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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"The people of the South Indian Neolithic Culture (1700-1100 BCE) "used polish stone celts and axes on a larger scale than was the case in the Deccan Chalcolithic. ... produced slender chalcedony blades ... The use of copper was on a restricted scale."
[1]
[1]: (Shinde and Deshpande 2002, 345) Vasant Shinde. Shweta Sinha Deshpande. South Indian Chalcolithic. Deccan Chalcolithic, South Indian Neolithic. Peter N. Peregrine. Melvin Ember. eds. 2002. Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Volume 8: South and Southwest Asia. Springer. Boston. pp 344-360. |
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According to Hasan Nizami’s Taj-ul-Maathir (13th CE) Muslim cavaliers also "used iron maces, battleaxes, daggers, and javelins" whereas the Hindu Rajputs had only spear or lance.
[1]
[1]: (? 2013, 162-163) ?. Sirhindi, Abdullah. Daniel Coetzee. Lee W Eysturlid. eds. 2013. Philosophers of War: The Evolution of History’s Greatest Military Thinkers. The Ancient to Pre-Modern World, 3000 BCE - 1815 CE. Praeger. Santa Barbara. |
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‘Implements which are mainly used by the Garos are very few in number. Mongreng is a variety of axe, and banuk or oaiseng is another variety. Besides these, they have spears with very big iron heads. They also have mellam, i.e., a short sword, about three feet long. It is made of iron and is straight in shape with sharpened end on both sides. It has a horizontal narrow crossbar from two ends of which they usually tie the taft tail hair of bulls or of yak if they can manage to purchase it from upper districts of Assam. Yaks’ tail is very much in demand by the Garos, and they consider it as a precious possession. The lowermost portion of the sword serves as the grip which is pointed at the end. This, they say, helps them to stick the sword on the ground when necessary.’
[1]
‘Bows and arrows are not used by them now. They say they used them formerly. In folktales, mention of bows and arrows is found. Spear is very rarely used for killing animals. They are rather used for self protection. Very few people have guns. Others remain satisfied with spear, mongreng, banuk, dao (all three are different forms of axe), etc., for their self protection and also for occasional huntings. Those who live near a river or a stream pass many hours of the day and at times of night as well in fishing. They use various methods in catching fish. For the purpose of this paper, it is not necessary to describe them here.’
[2]
[1]: Sinha, Tarunchandra 1966. “Psyche Of The Garo”, 11 [2]: Sinha, Tarunchandra 1966. “Psyche Of The Garos”, 21 |
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‘Implements which are mainly used by the Garos are very few in number. Mongreng is a variety of axe, and banuk or oaiseng is another variety. Besides these, they have spears with very big iron heads. They also have mellam, i.e., a short sword, about three feet long. It is made of iron and is straight in shape with sharpened end on both sides. It has a horizontal narrow crossbar from two ends of which they usually tie the taft tail hair of bulls or of yak if they can manage to purchase it from upper districts of Assam. Yaks’ tail is very much in demand by the Garos, and they consider it as a precious possession. The lowermost portion of the sword serves as the grip which is pointed at the end. This, they say, helps them to stick the sword on the ground when necessary.’
[1]
‘Bows and arrows are not used by them now. They say they used them formerly. In folktales, mention of bows and arrows is found. Spear is very rarely used for killing animals. They are rather used for self protection. Very few people have guns. Others remain satisfied with spear, mongreng, banuk, dao (all three are different forms of axe), etc., for their self protection and also for occasional huntings. Those who live near a river or a stream pass many hours of the day and at times of night as well in fishing. They use various methods in catching fish. For the purpose of this paper, it is not necessary to describe them here.’
[2]
[1]: Sinha, Tarunchandra 1966. “Psyche Of The Garo”, 11 [2]: Sinha, Tarunchandra 1966. “Psyche Of The Garos”, 21 |
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"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare."
[1]
Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation rather than there being a complete shift to new weaponry. Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) some of the Harsha infantry had ’Battle axes’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’
[2]
The Harsha are a post-Gupta era polity so if they used the battle axe and there was no major shift in weaponry until the Islamic invasion then the battle axe was probably still in use at this time.
[1]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. [2]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. |
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"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads."
[1]
The Kushans had used battle-axes.
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 269) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO. |
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Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) some of the Harsha infantry had ’Battle axes’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’
[1]
"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare."
[2]
Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation but I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation.
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. [2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
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|
"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[1]
[1]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. |
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|
"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[1]
[1]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. |
||||||
|
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) some of the Harsha infantry had ’Battle axes’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’
[1]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. |
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|
[1]
A military historian states the Maurayan heavy infantry is known to have used iron weapons including maces, dagger-axes, battle-axes and a slashing sword
[2]
- do Mauryan specialists agree?
[1]: http://www.historydiscussion.net/empires/satavahana-dynasty-rulers-administration-society-and-economic-conditions/736 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Gabriel, Richard A. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group. |
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|
Inferred from use in Mauryan Empire. The Sunga Dynasty was in effect the continuation of the Mauryan Empire as it was established in a coup by the Mauryan general Pushyamitra Sunga (Roy 2015, 19).
[1]
According to one military historian (this data needs to be confirmed by a polity specialist) the Mauryan army used the dagger axe (which from the illustration looks like a battle axe, although it is probably not drawn to scale so it could be a polearm?), the battle axe and the crescent axe.
[2]
’
[1]: (Roy 2015: 19) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/35K9MMUW. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 212) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies Of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
Earlier Abbasids had the battle axe.
[2]
had battle axes.
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Nicolle and Hook 1998, Cover Illustration) Nicolle D, Hook A. 1998. Armies of the Caliphates 862-1098. Osprey Publishing. |
||||||
|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
axes.
[2]
"Ranged weapons were featured more prominently, with Akkadian soldiers typically depicted carrying bows, broad-bladed battle axes,7 and spears (Westenholz 1999: 65–6)."
[3]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. [2]: (Foster 2016, 166) Foster, Benjamin R. 2016. The Age of Agade. Inventing Empire In Ancient Mesopotamia. Routledge. London. [3]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 15) |
||||||
|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[2]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. [2]: Hamblin 2006, 48 |
||||||
|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"We have no evidence for warfare. In contrast with later periods, ’Ubaid seals show no depictions of weapons, prisoners, or combat scenes".
[1]
There were discovered some mace-heads and stone axes, but their function is not clear. They could have been used either as a prestige object or symbol of power or as a weapon. There are found both in domestic and ceremonial contexts (temples - e. g. in Telul eth Thalathat.
[2]
[1]: (Stein 1994: 39) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/V94SXJRJ. [2]: Sievertsen 2010, 206 |
||||||
|
Sargarthians in the Persian army may have had battle axe.
[1]
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) Persian heavy cavalry were armed with the battleaxe.
[2]
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) heavy infantry carried long spear, short sword and battle axe.
[3]
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 161-162) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 163) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
"The weapons used in the military forces of the Anatolian Principalities were bow and arrow, sword, shield, javelin, dagger, club, axe, catapult and arrade."
[1]
[1]: (1994, 365) Ibrahim Kafesoglu. Ahmet Edip Uysal. Erdogan Mercil. Hidayet Yavuz Nuhoglu. 1994. A short history of Turkish-Islamic states (excluding the Ottoman state). Turkish Historical Society Printing House. |
||||||
|
shafthole axes made of sheet bronze
[1]
"Metal weapons become more prevalent in the assemblage beginning in the EDIII period, with the appearance of daggers, battle axes, and a variety of spearheads"
[2]
[1]: Daniel T. Potts, ‘Luristan and the Central Zagros in the Bronze Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 211 [2]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 16) |
||||||
|
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
Sassanids
[2]
and Abbasids
[3]
had battle axes.
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. [3]: (Nicolle and Hook 1998, Cover Illustration) Nicolle D, Hook A. 1998. Armies of the Caliphates 862-1098. Osprey Publishing. |
||||||
|
Present in the previous polity and axeheads found in the neighboring region of Luristan at this time.
[1]
The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[2]
[1]: Bruno Overlaet, ‘Luristan During the Iron Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 380 [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Technology not found in archaeological evidence until much later
|
||||||
|
Found at Choga Zanbil.
[1]
The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[2]
[1]: Potts, D.T. 1999. The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.227 [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Found at Choga Zanbil.
[1]
The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[2]
[1]: Potts, D.T. 1999. The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.227 [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Found at Choga Zanbil.
[1]
The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[2]
[1]: Potts, D.T. 1999. The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.227 [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Bronze axes found in the neighboring polity for this time and had been long present in the region.
[1]
The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[2]
[1]: Bruno Overlaet, ‘Luristan During the Iron Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, pp. 380-381 [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Bronze axes found in the neighboring polity for this time and had been long present in the region.
[1]
The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[2]
[1]: Bruno Overlaet, ‘Luristan During the Iron Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, pp. 380-381 [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Secondary weapons of the heavy cavalryman "included a long sword, axe, mace and dagger."
[1]
Secondary weapons for the horse-archers: "Axes, short swords, daggers and sometimes long swords were secondary weapons worn at the belt."
[2]
[1]: (Penrose 2008, 224) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Penrose 2008, 225) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. |
||||||
|
long halberds, some almost 50 centimeters that were produced in Japan.
[1]
These would have functioned as battle axes rather than polearms.
[1]: Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. p. 279 |
||||||
|
In the region of modern Sudan during this period: "The Mahdist army used different types of weapons during their revolt. They used also weapons such as swords, axes and maces which resembled Persian weapons of the same period in terms of shape and decoration."
[1]
[1]: (Stephane and Khorasani 2018) Pradines Stephane. Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani. 2018. Sufi in War: Persian influence on African weaponry in the 19th century Mahdist Sudan. JAAS. Volume XXII. No.5. |
||||||
|
"During the reign of the first King Khosrow, or Chosroes (531-79), a cavalryman’s equipment consisted of ... battleaxe ..."
[1]
at the muster parades of Khusrau I (second Sassanid period) cavalry units required to have "mail, breastplate, helmet, leg guards, arm guards, horse armour, lance, buckler, sword, mace, battle axe, quiver of thirty arrows, bow case with two bows, and two spare bow strings."
[2]
[1]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. [2]: (Chegini 1996, 58) Chegini, N. N. Political History, Economy and Society. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.40-58. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf |
||||||
|
The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[1]
The last reference was have is c2000 BCE in Sumer. The lament for Sumer and Ur states: ’large axes were sharpened in front of Ur’.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
||||||
|
Present.
[1]
What explanation accompanied this reference? The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[2]
The last reference was have is c2000 BCE in Sumer. The lament for Sumer and Ur states: ’large axes were sharpened in front of Ur’.
[3]
[1]: Potts 1999, 177 [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [3]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
||||||
|
The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages."
[1]
The last reference was have is c2000 BCE in Sumer. The lament for Sumer and Ur states: ’large axes were sharpened in front of Ur’.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
||||||
|
French mercenaries were often employed who would bring their own weapons. These included the battle axe, sword, dagger, spear or lance. Mace, club and flail would begin their rise to prominence at the end of this period.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Boulton in Kilber, W W. 1995. Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Psychology Press. [2]: Nicolle, D and McBride, A. 1991. French Medieval Armies 1000-1300. Osprey Publishing Ltd. London. |
||||||
|
No information in literature.
|
||||||
|
No information in literature.
|
||||||
|
General reference for medieval warfare: battle axes.
[1]
Illustration shows "’Scappoli’ volunteer, early 17th C." with what looks like a battle axe.
[2]
[1]: (Gaier 2010, 76) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate H) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
||||||
|
General reference for medieval warfare: battle axes.
[1]
Illustration shows "’Scappoli’ volunteer, early 17th C." with what looks like a battle axe.
[2]
[1]: (Gaier 2010, 76) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate H) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
||||||
|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
[1]
[1]: Habu, Junko, ‘Growth and decline in complex hunter-gatherer societies: a case study from the Jomon period Sannai Maruyama site, Japan’, Antiquity, Vol.82(317), 2008, pp. 575-577 |
||||||
|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
[1]
[1]: Habu, Junko, ‘Growth and decline in complex hunter-gatherer societies: a case study from the Jomon period Sannai Maruyama site, Japan’, Antiquity, Vol.82(317), 2008, pp. 575-577 |
||||||
|
long halberds, some almost 50 centimeters that were produced in Japan.
[1]
These would have functioned as battle axes rather than polearms.
[1]: Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. p. 279 |
||||||
|
long halberds, some almost 50 centimeters that were produced in Japan.
[1]
These would have functioned as battle axes rather than polearms.
[1]: Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. p. 279 |
||||||
|
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
"Turkish weapons, 10th-12th centuries. An assortment of typical Turco-Mongol or Central Asian weapons fragments were found during archaeological excavations at the Citadel of Kuva. This area, close to the frontier with China, became the heartland of the Kara-Khanid Sultanate which rivalled the Seljuks for the domination of the north-eastern provinces of the Islamic world ... The weapons themselves, including parts of daggers, arrowheads and spearheads, would have been identical to those used by Seljuk warriors both here in Transoxania, in Iran and in Syria".
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Nicolle 2001, 51) Nicolle, David. 2001. The Crusades. Osprey Publishing. |
||||||
|
"Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
||||||
|
’The ordinary Khmer soldiers as well as officers might carry a lance; or a bow, with the arrows being held in a quiver; or sabres of different length; or various sizes of knives and daggers; or a kind of halberd known as a phka’h. The latter was basically an iron axe mounted on a long handle curved at one end. At Angkor Wat, the phka’k is held in the hands of high-ranking warriors mounted on elephants or horses; it is still in use in the twentieth century for hunting or work in the forest. Crossbows were known, but are extremely rare in the reliefs.’
[1]
According to Jacq-Hergoualc’h (2007), ’typical axes, or phka’ks’ were present.
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 185) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 14) |
||||||
|
’The ordinary Khmer soldiers as well as officers might carry a lance; or a bow, with the arrows being held in a quiver; or sabres of different length; or various sizes of knives and daggers; or a kind of halberd known as a phka’h. The latter was basically an iron axe mounted on a long handle curved at one end. At Angkor Wat, the phka’k is held in the hands of high-ranking warriors mounted on elephants or horses; it is still in use in the twentieth century for hunting or work in the forest. Crossbows were known, but are extremely rare in the reliefs.’
[1]
According to Jacq-Hergoualc’h (2007), ’typical axes, or phka’ks’ were present.
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 185) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 14) |
||||||
|
’The ordinary Khmer soldiers as well as officers might carry a lance; or a bow, with the arrows being held in a quiver; or sabres of different length; or various sizes of knives and daggers; or a kind of halberd known as a phka’h. The latter was basically an iron axe mounted on a long handle curved at one end. At Angkor Wat, the phka’k is held in the hands of high-ranking warriors mounted on elephants or horses; it is still in use in the twentieth century for hunting or work in the forest. Crossbows were known, but are extremely rare in the reliefs.’
[1]
According to Jacq-Hergoualc’h (2007), ’typical axes, or phka’ks’ were present.
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 185) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 14) |
||||||
|
’The ordinary Khmer soldiers as well as officers might carry a lance; or a bow, with the arrows being held in a quiver; or sabres of different length; or various sizes of knives and daggers; or a kind of halberd known as a phka’h. The latter was basically an iron axe mounted on a long handle curved at one end. At Angkor Wat, the phka’k is held in the hands of high-ranking warriors mounted on elephants or horses; it is still in use in the twentieth century for hunting or work in the forest. Crossbows were known, but are extremely rare in the reliefs.’
[1]
According to Jacq-Hergoualc’h (2007), ’typical axes, or phka’ks’ were present.
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 185) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 14) |
||||||
|
According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
The axe was known in the region, hence there is no reason to believe that they wouldn’t have used them in warfare. Traditional Khmer weapons later depicted in Angkor include the a battle axe known as phka’k, which was carried by high ranking officials.
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007, p. 24) |
||||||
|
According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
The axe was known in the region, hence there is no reason to believe that they wouldn’t have used them in warfare. Traditional Khmer weapons later depicted in Angkor include the a battle axe known as phka’k, which was carried by high ranking officials.
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49) [2]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007, p. 24) |
||||||
|
"1879, M. Moura obtained bronze artifacts from villagers at Samrong Sen in Cambodia, including an axe, fishhooks, arrowheads, and bangles" from the Bronze Age.
[1]
These arrowheads may have been from a bow and arrow, however the dates and details were not confirmed. However, may not have been a battle axe.
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2016: 106) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2EZ3CBBS. |
||||||
|
No evidence for axes in Cambodia but many have been found in mainland SEA: "In Vietnam these include a spearhead from Cuong Ha in Quang Binh Province, and a socketed axe from Go Ma Voi in Quang Nam Province. Locally made iron objects produced at the same period as Dongson bronzes include swords, axes, hoes, sickles, knives, and tweezers." (300 BC)
[1]
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2016: 111) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2EZ3CBBS. |
||||||
|
Vedic sources connect charioteering with stone axe.
[1]
Not everyone agrees Vedic culture was descendant from, and thus can tell us about, Andronovo culture.
[2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. [2]: (Lamberg-Karlovsky 144-145) C C Lamberg-Karlovsky. 2005. Archaeology and language: the case of the Bronze Age Indo-Iranians. Edwin Francis Bryant. Laurie L Patton. eds. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
|
"Le antiche figurazioni e i reperti archaeologici suggeriscono inoltre la presenza di soldati di fanteria dotati di lance, pugnali, asce e mazze, ma scarsamente protetti da armi difensive, quali elmi, corazze e scudi, che compaiono raramente nei repertori figurati; risulta, infine, la presenza di corpi di arcieri."
[1]
TRANSLATION: "Ancient iconography and archaeological findings suggest that the infantry was armed with spears, daggers, axes, and clubs, but was only rarely clad in defensive gear such as helmets, armour and shields; finally, armies also included archers’ corps."
[1]: Bartoloni, P. 1988. L’esercito, la marina e la guerra. In Moscati, S. (ed) I Fenici pp. 132-138. Milano: Bompiani. |
||||||
|
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century).
[1]
Present.
[2]
Is there any more detail for this reference - for example, is it specific for this polity?
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. [2]: M. Izard and J. Ki-Zerbo, From the Niger to the Volta, in B.A. Ogot (ed), General History of Africa, vol. 5: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries (1992), pp. 327-367 |
||||||
|
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century).
[1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
||||||
|
The last Yuan emperor Toghon Temur returned to Mongolia and established the capital of his new Mongol state ("which extended from Manchuria to Kyrgystan") at Karakorum. At that time the MilTech codes would be the same as for the preceding Yuan China. Over the next decades the state lost territory and there was civil war at the start of the 15th century although in 1409 CE they still managed to rout a very large invading Ming army. The Ming attacked again but the Mongols were not conquered. Under an Oirat noble called Esen (1440-1455 CE) they invaded China in 1449 CE with 20,000 cavalry and captured the Ming emperor. In 1451 CE Esen overthrew the Mongol Khan but he wasn’t a direct descendent of Genghis Khan and was killed during a 1455 CE rebellion. His rule was followed by minor Khans who ruled a Mongolia in which the Khalkhas were one of three ’left-flank’ tumens (in addition to Chahars and Uriangqais). The state also had ’right-flank’ tumens (Ordos, Tumeds, Yunshebus) and the Oirats of western Mongolia. "These 6 tumens were major administrative units, often called ulus tumens (princedoms), comprising the 40 lesser tumens of the military-administrative type inherited from the Yuan period, each of which was reputedly composed of 10,000 cavalry troops ..."
[1]
The narrative suggests at least for 1400 CE and 1500 CE the army was cavalry based and in continuity with the preceding Yuan. The Yuan Dyansty is coded present for battle axe. Presumably Mongol cavalry could use it as a secondary weapon.
[1]: (Ishjamts 2003, 208-211) N Ishjamts. 2003. The Mongols. Chahryar Adle. Irfan Habib. Karl M Baipakov. eds. History Of Civilizations Of Central Asia. Volume V. Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. UNESCO Publishing. Paris. |
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|
"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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|
"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include axes. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include axes. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include axes. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include axes. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Weapons other than obsidian swords, bows and arrows, slings, spears and atlatls are not known for this period.
[1]
[1]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"Axes were present, but if used, they must have been of secondary importance in that they did not compare well with other weapons."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 47) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
No significant change compared to the Classic period.
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 82) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
Infantry: "Weapons included various types of spear, mace, and axe (single-bladed, double-bladed, blade-and-spike, etc.), along with the traditional sword, although not all heavy infantrymen carried the latter."
[1]
Later forces of the Varangian Guard wielded an axe.
[1]: (Haldon 2008, 476) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
||||||
|
Not included in the following: "Thrusting spears became the primary combat weapons [in the Late Formative situation] as they spread throughout Mesoamerica. Clubs persisted, but declined [...] maces also declined. [...] The distribution of slingstones throughout Mesoamerica indicates the continued use".
[1]
unknown from the archaeological record, as the known lithic axes seem crude for military weapons, and were probably used as tools
[2]
[3]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. [2]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.122. [3]: Tolstoy, Paul (1971). "Utilitarian Artifacts of Central Mexico." In The Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, ed. G. F. Ekholm, and I. Bernal. Austin: University of Texas Press, 270-296. |
||||||
|
Not included in the following: "Thrusting spears became the primary combact weapons [in the Late Formative situation] as they spread throughout Mesoamerica. Clubs persisted, but declined [...] maces also declined. [...] The distribution of slingstones throughout Mesoamerica indicates the continued use".
[1]
unknown from the archaeological record, as the known lithic axes seem crude for military weapons, and were probably used as tools
[2]
[3]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. [2]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.122. [3]: Tolstoy, Paul (1971). "Utilitarian Artifacts of Central Mexico." In The Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, ed. G. F. Ekholm, and I. Bernal. Austin: University of Texas Press, 270-296. |
||||||
|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"Most of the basic Mesoamerican armaments were in existence at this time [Classic period] - atlatls, darts, and spears, we well as clubs (bladed and unbladed), shields, cotton body armor, and unit standards [...] This military organization and technology was carried forward and elaborated on first by Toltecs and then by Aztecs".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 5) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include axes. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Relative to this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so the absence of weapons other than the atlatl and spears in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Relative to this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so the absence of weapons other than the atlatl and spears in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
||||||
|
Bronze axes found in a tomb at El Castillo de Haurmey. "Intriguingly, one vessel from the mausoleum depicts coastal warriors battling axe-wielding Wari invaders."
[1]
[1]: (Pringle 2013 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130627-peru-archaeology-wari-south-america-human-sacrifice-royal-ancient-world/) |
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|
According to Newton, colonial intruders were on occasion attacked with tomahawks: ’As the miners and carriers moved into Gira River and Yodda Valley districts there was more violence between villagers and intruders. Over a period of about 18 months, large numbers of Kumusi villagers joined with the Kokoda people to attack miners and storekeepers nearly every week. Resident Magistrate Armit intervened in an attempt to reduce the tension, but in various encounters with parties of Orokavians armed with stones, spears and tomahawks, he shot between fifty and sixty.’
[1]
[1]: Newton, Janice. 1985. “Orokaiva Production And Change.”, 26 |
||||||
|
As the miners and carriers moved into Gira River and Yodda Valley districts there was more violence between villagers and intruders. Over a period of about 18 months, large numbers of Kumusi villagers joined with the Kokoda people to attack miners and storekeepers nearly every week. Resident Magistrate Armit intervened in an attempt to reduce the tension, but in various encounters with parties of Orokavians armed with stones, spears and tomahawks, he shot between fifty and sixty.
[1]
[1]: Newton, Janice. 1985. “Orokaiva Production And Change.”, 26 |
||||||
|
"Axes made of polished stones."
[1]
PF: interpretation of those axes (that often have small dimensions) as battle axes is tentative. There is a rich groundstone industry, both for grinding plant material and ochres, and for small axes and maces.
[2]
[1]: BIÇAKÇI E., S. BALCI, Ç. ALTUNBİLEK-ALGÜL, 2009. Tepecik-Çiftlik 2007 Yılı Çalışmaları. Ankara, p. 208-209 [2]: Ian Hodder, ‘Çatalhöyük: A Prehistoric Settlement on the Konya Plain’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 945 |
||||||
|
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented".
[1]
ground stone axe found in burial (Ahmed 2014, p. 316). - was this a battle axe? In one exceptional burial, a polished stone axe and three flint cores were placed in a basket and lay near the skull of the deceased. Sixteen blades from the same core were set in parallel rows along the spinal column
[2]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX/q/kenoyer. [2]: (Jarrige et al. 1995: 246) |
||||||
|
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented".
[1]
Ground stone axe found in burial
[2]
- was this a battle axe? In one exceptional burial, a polished stone axe and three flint cores were placed in a basket and lay near the skull of the deceased. Sixteen blades from the same core were set in parallel rows along the spinal column
[3]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX/q/kenoyer. [2]: (Ahmed 2014, p. 316) [3]: (Jarrige et al. 1995: 246) |
||||||
|
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented".
[1]
Ground stone axe found in burial
[2]
- was this a battle axe? In one exceptional burial, a polished stone axe and three flint cores were placed in a basket and lay near the skull of the deceased. Sixteen blades from the same core were set in parallel rows along the spinal column
[3]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX/q/kenoyer. [2]: (Ahmed 2014, p. 316) [3]: (Jarrige et al. 1995: 246) |
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|
The Indo-Greeks were most likely to have been influenced and equipped in the tradition of the Macedonian style adopted by their Bactrian-Greek forbearers. They presumably wore the muscled breastplate made of metal scales and stripped with leather. Military adventurers and mercenaries from the Mediterranean took part in campaigns into India (attracted by India’s rumored wealth) and were present in military colonies; and they may provide more circumstantial evidence of the types of military equipment used by the Indo-Greeks. In addition, depictions on coins provide evidence of plate armour and the Boeotian helmet of the Alexandrian cavalrymen.
[1]
One issue that remains unclear is how many, if any, of the reforms taking place were in reaction to Roman military innovations trickling into the Indo-Greek Kingdoms. Therefore, the coding reflects Greek military technology from an earlier period.
[2]
[1]: Docherty, Paddy. The Khyber Pass: a history of empire and invasion. Union Square Press, 2008. pp. 64-66 [2]: Lee, Mireille M. "Hellenistic Infantry Reform in the 160s BC, by Nicholas Sekunda.(Studies on the History of Ancient and Medieval Art of Warfare 5.) Oficyna Naukowa MS, Lodz 2001. |
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|
“[At Pirak] Several metal artifacts (flat axes and daggers) have shaped known from Harappan sites, but others (moulded daggers and arrowheads) represent technological innovations.”
[1]
[1]: Jarrige, J-F. (2000) Continuity and Change in the North Kachi Plain (Baluchistan, Pakistan) at the beginning of the Second Millennium BC. In, Lahiri, N. The Decline and Fall of the Indus Civilization. Permanent Black, Delhi., pp345-362. p353 |
||||||
|
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented" before the Indus period.
[1]
ground stone axe found in burial (Ahmed 2014, p. 316). - was this a battle axe? In one exceptional burial, a polished stone axe and three flint cores were placed in a basket and lay near the skull of the deceased. Sixteen blades from the same core were set in parallel rows along the spinal column
[2]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX. [2]: (Jarrige et al. 1995: 246) |
||||||
|
Bronze axes found in archaeological contexts
[1]
. If "the first archaeologically recognizable, large post-Indus urban settlements are not earlier than the fifth century BC ... solidly visible states ... appear in a sudden profusion in the late first millennium B.C."
[2]
- who was king Stabrobates of India who used war elephants against a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) in the 9th century BCE?
[3]
One could infer king Stabrobates, if not based there himself, must have subdued and controlled the Kachi Plain region in order to invade Mesopotamia from ’India’. (Another source says Assyria invaded India and were driven out of Pakistan and India).
[4]
Diodorus Siculus says this too, queen Semiramis was based in Bactra (Bactria?).
[5]
If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain, then we code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included weapons of war. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[6]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: Ceccarelli, pers. comm. to E. Cioni, Feb 2017 [2]: (Ahmed 2014, 64) Mukhtar Ahmed. 2014. Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume V: The End of the Harappan Civilization, and the Aftermath. Foursome Group. [3]: (Mayor 2014, 289) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [4]: (Kistler 2007, 18) John M Kistler. 2007. War Elephants. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. [5]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [6]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
According to Hasan Nizami’s Taj-ul-Maathir (13th CE) Muslim cavaliers also "used iron maces, battleaxes, daggers, and javelins" whereas the Hindu Rajputs had only spear or lance.
[1]
[1]: (? 2013, 162-163) ?. Sirhindi, Abdullah. Daniel Coetzee. Lee W Eysturlid. eds. 2013. Philosophers of War: The Evolution of History’s Greatest Military Thinkers. The Ancient to Pre-Modern World, 3000 BCE - 1815 CE. Praeger. Santa Barbara. |
||||||
|
not mentioned in literature
|
||||||
|
No information in the archaeological evidence for this time
|
||||||
|
“Unsocketed Harappan axes are seen to be technologically inferior to their socketed Mesopotamian counterparts. However, unsocketed axes were evidently used in military contexts in Mesopotamia alongside more complex designs.”
[1]
[2]
… “Clearly, flat axes were used as weapons in Egypt and Mesopotamia during the Third Millennium, leaving no reason to suppose that those from the Indus were not.”
[3]
[1]: Cork, E. (2005) Peaceful Harappans? Reviewing the evidence for the absence of warfare in the Indus Civilisation of north-west India and Pakistan (c. 2500-1900 BC). Antiquity (79): 411-423. p414 [2]: Ratnagar 1981: 98 [3]: Cork, E. (2005) Peaceful Harappans? Reviewing the evidence for the absence of warfare in the Indus Civilisation of north-west India and Pakistan (c. 2500-1900 BC). Antiquity (79): 411-423. p415 |
||||||
|
“Unsocketed Harappan axes are seen to be technologically inferior to their socketed Mesopotamian counterparts. However, unsocketed axes were evidently used in military contexts in Mesopotamia alongside more complex designs.”
[1]
[2]
… “Clearly, flat axes were used as weapons in Egypt and Mesopotamia during the Third Millennium, leaving no reason to suppose that those from the Indus were not.”
[3]
[1]: Cork, E. (2005) Peaceful Harappans? Reviewing the evidence for the absence of warfare in the Indus Civilisation of north-west India and Pakistan (c. 2500-1900 BC). Antiquity (79): 411-423. p414 [2]: Ratnagar 1981: 98 [3]: Cork, E. (2005) Peaceful Harappans? Reviewing the evidence for the absence of warfare in the Indus Civilisation of north-west India and Pakistan (c. 2500-1900 BC). Antiquity (79): 411-423. p415 |
||||||
|
“Unsocketed Harappan axes are seen to be technologically inferior to their socketed Mesopotamian counterparts. However, unsocketed axes were evidently used in military contexts in Mesopotamia alongside more complex designs.”
[1]
[2]
… “Clearly, flat axes were used as weapons in Egypt and Mesopotamia during the Third Millennium, leaving no reason to suppose that those from the Indus were not.” However, Cork himself notes that the scholarly consensus is that there is little direct evidence for warfare in the region at this time, and that Indus weaponry has been interpreted as having been used for hunting rather than fighting.
[3]
[1]: Cork, E. (2005) Peaceful Harappans? Reviewing the evidence for the absence of warfare in the Indus Civilisation of north-west India and Pakistan (c. 2500-1900 BC). Antiquity (79): 411-423. p414 [2]: Ratnagar 1981: 98 [3]: (Cork 2005: 413, 416) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ECMD5V2D/q/cork. |
||||||
|
“Unsocketed Harappan axes are seen to be technologically inferior to their socketed Mesopotamian counterparts. However, unsocketed axes were evidently used in military contexts in Mesopotamia alongside more complex designs.”
[1]
[2]
… “Clearly, flat axes were used as weapons in Egypt and Mesopotamia during the Third Millennium, leaving no reason to suppose that those from the Indus were not.” However, Cork himself notes that the scholarly consensus is that there is little direct evidence for warfare in the region at this time, and that Indus weaponry has been interpreted as having been used for hunting rather than fighting.
[3]
[1]: Cork, E. (2005) Peaceful Harappans? Reviewing the evidence for the absence of warfare in the Indus Civilisation of north-west India and Pakistan (c. 2500-1900 BC). Antiquity (79): 411-423. p414 [2]: Ratnagar 1981: 98 [3]: (Cork 2005: 413, 416) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ECMD5V2D/q/cork. |
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|
"The Yakut axe (), is no less ancient in shape. Despite the fact that the Yakut name for it is exactly the same as its Mongol name - suge, it differs greatly from the Mongol axe. It is narrow, about two and one-half or three inches wide, even, with a narrow butt, lacks a puncher or a butt edge, and has a straight, thin cutting edge. These features, and also the size of the axe, bring it very close to the Siberian axes of the late Bronze Age. Punchers, butt edges, rounded points, and great width around the butt are now found increasingly oftener, and the Yakut themselves are conscious that this is a very recent Russian innovation."
[1]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 637 |
||||||
|
Academic histories of warfare and weaponry in Egypt stop mentioning axes and maces once they reach the New Kingdom, suggesting they fell out of use. This source, for which we require expert confirmation, say the Kushites "fought with clubs, swords, pikes, and hatchets."
[1]
[1]: (http://www.afropedea.org/kush#TOC-Military) |
||||||
|
"More than 150 metal artefacts (bronze: axes, arrowheads, knives, spears, hair pins, needles, lead blocks for export, lead stamps; silver and gold jewels) and numerous artefacts made of stone (grinding grains, leather, wood, showcases, bow and arrows, tools, marble cups and goblets) were found."
[1]
[1]: (Razzokov and Kurbanov 2005: 22) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IDTTJNJT. |
||||||
|
Axes have been found in the context of metallurgical workshops. We may then assume that they were not only objects for sale, but might have also been used on the battlefield. MBA Anatolian axes had many various shapes.
[1]
[2]
The bronze was produced locally, by Anatolian metalworkers, to make tools, weapons, and household objects, many of which have been found in the houses and graves of the kārum: spearheads, axes, daggers, forks, needles, nails, and chains
[3]
[1]: Bachluber Ch. 2012. ‘’Bronze Age Cities On Plain and the Plains and the Highlands’’. pg. 585 [2]: Yıldırım T. 2010. Weapons of Kültepe. [in:] Kulakoğlu F., Kangal S. (eds.) Anatolia’s Prologue, Kültepe Kanesh Karum, Assyrians in Istambul. Istambul. pg. 118-120 [3]: Cécile Michel, ‘The Kārum Period on the Plateau’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 325 |
||||||
|
"Warriors also carried knives, hatchets, and war-clubs."
[1]
.
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html |
||||||
|
"The tomahawk, which the Iroquois could throw with great dexterity, was originally a stone weapon somewhat like an ax, with a deep groove cut around the outside by means of which the wooden handle was firmly attached with a willow withe or rawhide thong.
[1]
They used [the tomahawk] in close combat with terrible effect, and also threw it with unerring certainty at distant objects, making it revolve in the air in its flight."
[2]
[1]: Lyford 1945, 45 [2]: Morgan & Lloyd 1901, 15 |
||||||
|
"The tomahawk, which the Iroquois could throw with great dexterity, was originally a stone weapon somewhat like an ax, with a deep groove cut around the outside by means of which the wooden handle was firmly attached with a willow withe or rawhide thong.
[1]
They used [the tomahawk] in close combat with terrible effect, and also threw it with unerring certainty at distant objects, making it revolve in the air in its flight."
[2]
[1]: Lyford 1945, 45 [2]: Morgan & Lloyd 1901, 15 |
||||||
|
Most sources only refer to bows and arrows
[1]
, and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD".
[2]
[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95) [2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6 |
||||||
|
Most sources only refer to bows and arrows
[1]
, and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD".
[2]
[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95) [2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6 |
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Most sources only refer to bows and arrows
[1]
, and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD".
[2]
[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95) [2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6 |
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Use of "heavy stone axe or mace". "However, whilst often referred to as a "stone axe" this weapon also could be called a mace or a club. It was a bludgeoning weapon.
[1]
[1]: (Iseminger 2010: 78) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/G56KRN8Q. |
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Code checked by Peter Peregrine. Previous notes: Archaeological evidence for warfare appears to "only" include "[d]efensive structures around villages, violent injuries on human remains, "trophy heads," the abandonment of regions, and the positioning of sites in ever more defensive positions"
[1]
, though a few weapon types can be cautiously inferred, such as bow and arrows and spears
[2]
, and, at a later date, firearms
[3]
.
[1]: G. Gibbon, Oneota, in P. Peregrine, M. Ember and Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 6: North America (2001), p. 391 [2]: P.S. Martin, G.I. Quimby and D.Collier, Indians Before Columbus (1947), p. 316 [3]: Illinois State Museum, Late Prehistoric, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre/htmls/lp_weapons.html |
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Hazara infantry used against the Mughals in the mid-seventeenth century.
[1]
- what weapons did they use? The eighteenth century Durrani Empire used Uzbeks and other tribal groups who were still equipped with spears, battle axe and bow and arrow.
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2014, 111-112) Kaushik Roy. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Academic. London. [2]: J. Hanway, An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, 4 vols., London, 1753 p. 252-4 |
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Andronovo had the socketed ax.
[1]
The axe may have earlier been a weapon of those Andronovo who used the chariot but at this time chariot warfare may have been replaced by mounted horsemen. "In the 12th century BC chariot warfare tactics lost their importance in Andronovo society; mounted horsemen armed with bows and arrows replaced chariot drivers."
[2]
Tazabagyab culture is considered to have had its origin in Andronovo culture.
[3]
Andronovo culture (2000-900 BCE, Alakul phase 2100-1400 BCE, Fedorovo phase 1400-1200 BCE, Alekseyevka phase 1200-1000 BCE). Tazabagyab culture (15th - 11th), Suyarganskaya culture (11th - 9th), Amirabad culture (9th - 8th). The battle axe was later a typical weapon of steppe zone nomadic culture after 700 BCE: "Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[4]
[1]: (Mallory 1997, 21) J P Mallory. Andronovo culture. J P Mallory. D Q Adams. eds. 1997. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Chicago. [2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 138) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. [3]: (Mallory 1997, 20-21) J P Mallory. Andronovo culture. J P Mallory. D Q Adams. eds. 1997. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Chicago. [4]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
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"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
"The dearth of illustrative material for the greater part of six centuries is largely due to the wanton destruction caused by two savage invasions from the east and only such finds as the stucco figures from Kara-shar [Central Asian warrior, eighth to tenth century] tell us that in all this period there had been little change."
[1]
The Sassanids had battleaxe.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. |
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These do not appear to be included in depictions of "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age, as reproduced in Jung (1991).
[1]
However, Jung himself does not state these were not in use, nor does he remark on their absence in said depictions.
[1]: (Jung 1991) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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These do not appear to be included in depictions of "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age, as reproduced in Jung (1991).
[1]
However, Jung himself does not state these were not in use, nor does he remark on their absence in said depictions.
[1]: (Jung 1991) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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A military historian states that the Maurayan heavy infantry is known to have used iron weapons including maces, dagger-axes, battle-axes and a slashing sword
[1]
- do Maurayan specialists agree?
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Gabriel, Richard A. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Greenwood Publishing Group. |
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