I LOVE THIS: Scientists Have Recreated Medieval Battles to Solve Debate Over Ancient Bronze Swords.

Researchers commissioned the creation of seven bronze swords using traditional methods, then tested them out with the help of local experts used to setting up medieval combat reconstructions, applying techniques from the Middle Ages.

By analysing the marks and indents left on the weapons by the mock battles, and comparing them with a close-up study of 110 ancient Bronze Age swords found across Great Britain and Italy, the team was able to show that the patterns of wear did indeed match up with real combat techniques – indicating these weapons weren’t just ceremonial items.

“Taken together, the archaeological, analytical, and experimental data contributes a strong case for prehistoric swordsmanship being a contact martial discipline involving a certain amount of wilful, skilfully controlled blade contact,” write the researchers in their published paper.

“This is not something that one could improvise. As was the case in later times, mastering sword-twisting and binding techniques would require initial guidance and regular follow-up practice – in other words, structured weapon training.” . . . What’s more, by looking at differences between sword wear and tear across the centuries, the researchers were able to map out an evolution in sword fighting style – a sort of early form of fencing – across Britain and Italy from the late 2nd to the early 1st millennium BCE.

That doesn’t surprise me. These were elite weapons of the elite in their day. But you can imagine how a sword made out of meteoric iron would seem almost like a magic weapon compared to bronze swords and armor.