‘Europe’s Oldest Battlefield’ Just Got Stranger With New Evidence of Outsiders Involved

Northeastern Germany’s Tollense Valley hosts what is known arsenic the world’s oldest battlefield: an archaeological tract bearing the remains of immoderate 150 individuals, dating to the 13th period BCE.

Now, investigation of arrowheads recovered connected the tract uncover that the weaponry was not produced successful the area, indicating that the struggle progressive radical from elsewhere successful Europe. The team’s probe was published contiguous successful Antiquity.

“The arrowheads are a benignant of ‘smoking gun’,” says pb writer of the research, Leif Inselmann, a researcher astatine Freie Universtät Berlin and pb writer of the study, successful an Antiquity release. “Just similar the execution limb successful a mystery, they springiness america a hint astir the culprit, the fighters of the Tollense Valley conflict and wherever they came from.”

The tract was archetypal projected to beryllium a battlefield successful 2011, though the parties progressive successful the struggle stay unclear. According to the release, based connected the fig of quality remains near connected the site, immoderate researchers estimation implicit 2,000 radical were progressive with the conflict itself. Now, the caller squad has determined that astatine slightest immoderate of the combatants were not locals to bluish Germany.

Inselmann has collected astir 5,000 arrowheads from crossed Central Europe and discovered that antithetic types were contiguous astatine the conflict site. The arrowheads were flint and bronze; though the flint arrowheads were emblematic from the area, the bronze arrowheads were a operation of section and non-local types. Many of the arrowheads were recovered successful the Tollense area, but others—namely those with consecutive oregon rhombic bases—are much mostly associated with regions farther south, similar Bavaria and Moravia.

The overseas arrowheads person not been recovered successful tombs successful the Tollense area, indicating that the arrowheads from elsewhere didn’t simply marque their mode to the portion done trade. The barbs, it seems, were brought to Tollense for the intent of conflict. One acceptable of remains connected the tract makes that clear: a quality skull cap, punctured with a bronze arrowhead.

“The Tollense Valley struggle dates to a clip of large changes,” Inselmann said. “This raises questions astir the enactment of specified convulsive conflicts. Were the Bronze Age warriors organized arsenic a tribal coalition, the retinue oregon mercenaries of a charismatic person ‒ a benignant of “warlord” ‒, oregon adjacent the service of an aboriginal kingdom?”

Though the arrowheads bash not wide up the parties progressive successful the conflict, they amusement that the large-scale unit (for the time) progressive groups from farther afield than antecedently known. As the squad noted successful their paper, nary helmets and breastplates emblematic of the clip person shown up from archaeological excavations of the site, truthful much digs whitethorn beryllium indispensable to uncover much astir the past combatants astatine Tollense, the remains of galore of whom stay connected the site.