Bloody medieval battles

On July 22, 1361, King Valdemar IV of Denmark sent an army of 2500 men ashore on Gotland's west coast. Gotland is an island that lies just ninety kilometers from the Swedish mainland, and for many centuries it played a dominant role in trade between Europe and Russia. Its walled town of Visby had been a member of the Hanseatic League since 1280. This league protected the economic interests of all cities within its membership along trade routes and each city had its own legal system and military force. By the middle of the fourteenth century the town had encroached into rural areas, this fact and its membership of the Hanseatic League had separated the city from the rest of the island and this had caused much antagonism between the town dwellers and those who lived in the countryside. By 1356, Visby had become less important within the Hanseatic community and this had not gone unnoticed by King Valdemar of Denmark who had seen the Hanseatic League become increasing powerful within his own country, angry that he had no control or any say within the trade route it protected, Valdemar made his way to Gotland. [Top image:

The citizens of Visby had somehow been warned, and had closed the gates. But 1800 peasants prepared to fight for their small country. It is unknown who commanded the Gutnish army. However, he was probably a minor noble of some standing, probably with military experience. The Danish army was composed mainly of Danish and German troops, many mercenaries from the Baltic coast of Germany, with recent experience in the various feuds and wars between the German and Scandinavian states.

Simple peasants armor found in mass grave near city wall.

A legion of Swedish peasants tried to repel the Danish invasion near the city of Visby, but the inexperienced Gotlanders were no match for the Danish soldiers and many of them were slaughtered during the battle. Men, old folk, youths, cripples – they all die in battle outside the city walls of Visby. Their corpses are thrown into mass graves.

Nearly 700 years later a mass grave was found on the Island of Gotland and in the years up to 1928 at least three more pits were found. The final ones were found outside the gates of Visby, a walled city. Extensive archaeological investigations of the graves in 1928-1930 and modern science have provided new knowledge of what happened.

The dead of the peasant defenders were stripped of virtually anything of value and any arms or armour and then flung into pits where they had been despatched. Over 1185 human remains were found in pits excavated and many more are known about - some inaccessible.

Just a few were found still wearing minor bits of equipment such as skull with the mail coif still in position but many would have been very poorly equipped or armed.

There were 456 wounds with visible evidence of cutting weapons, such as swords and axes. There were 126 which were from piercing weapons such as arrows, lances and "morning stars" which were a wooden ball studded with metal spikes and attached to a short handle with a chain and these were used against head and shoulders from above. There were also an undisclosed number of crushing injuries by the mace and war hammer. The latter were also often used to finish off the wounded. [Left: Armoured glove, from the mass graves, Visby]

Cutting wounds were split into two groups, those which showed hacking evidence but finished at the bone and those which actually severed the bone were 29. For example in more than one case where a single well aimed blow with a sword had been aimed at the upper legs and gone straight through both severing them instantly. Some had evidence of more than one lesser blow before the killer blow was used either in or after the battle.

War hammers were also in evidence where a square section of the hammer head showing in the shape of the section of the skull which had been stove in. See the picture on the left which points to three bodkin arrow points which had penetrated the skull and two holes where a hammer had been used and the skull split between them.

Which came first is unknown. A number of guesses can be made such as two quick hammer blows to fell the man and the arrows landing after, or a hail of arrows which he had turned his back on and then later two hammer blows to put him out of his misery. Before stripping and dumping him with his mates. The grouping of the arrow heads is particularly spectacular and it makes one wonder if they used the tactic of a hail of arrows as in the later battle of Crecy where it is said the English Longbow men kept 100,000 arrows in the air at one time.

There is one skeleton of a man who has had both legs severed, and it appears to have been done with one blow! The blow landed on the right leg below the knee on the outside, and then struck the left leg slightly below and on the inside. Since it appears to be unreasonable that someone would stand still with one leg hewn off, that one blow cut off both legs below the knee. As can be seen in another section of this book, that is not so astounding after all. There are several skeletons where a foot has been severed, and there are many with cuts to the lower leg. Indeed, this seems to have been a major target. A rough estimate is that close to 70 percent of the blows detected at Visby were aimed at the lower leg. This is quite understandable, as the lower leg is hard to protect, even with a shield. When you consider that these fighters were not well equipped with leg defenses it explains why they were targeted. The head also took many blows. There are several skulls from Visby that received so many blows that you would think the enemy would have gotten tired of hitting the poor devils. Many of the skulls still have their mail hoods, and although the hoods did provide some protection, many of the blows cut through the mail and into the bone. One of the most unsettling skulls is one where the victim had been hit a sharp blow right at the bridge of the nose. The blow was so hard that it cut through the upper jaw.

Skull of peasant from Visby with three arrowheads

Crushed skull with riveted mail coif from the medieval battle of Visby. 

There is also a skull from a different battle that shows how brutal the fight were. The Battle of Towton was fought during the English Wars of the Roses on 29 March 1461, near the village of Towton in Yorkshire. It brought about a change of monarchs in England, with the victor, the Yorkist Edward, Duke of York—who became King Edward IV. 28 000 men died that one day.

The skull (left) of a warrior shows was crushed. The soldier  had survived battle before. A healed skull fracture points to previous engagements. He was old enough—somewhere between 36 and 45 when he died.

He suffered eight wounds to his head that day. The precise order can be worked out from the direction of fractures on his skull: when bone breaks, the cracks veer towards existing areas of weakness. The first five blows were delivered by a bladed weapon to the left-hand side of his head, presumably by a right-handed opponent standing in front of him. None is likely to have been lethal.

The next one almost certainly was. From behind him someone swung a blade towards his skull, carving a down-to-up trajectory through the air. The blow opened a huge horizontal gash into the back of his head—picture a slit you could post an envelope through. Fragments of bone were forced in to his brain. His enemies were not done yet. Another small blow to the right and back of the head may have been enough to turn him over onto his back. Finally another blade arced towards him. This one bisected his face, opening a crevice that ran from his left eye to his right jaw.

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Amazing Viking axe

In 1868 a farmer began to dig into the mound Bjerringhøj at Mammen near Viborg. During this work he chanced upon an unusually richly-furnished grave, which has become known as the grave from Mammen. A magnate was buried in the grave during the winter of 970-71 AD. He was given an expensive costume, a ceremonial axe with inlaid silver decoration and a large wax candle.

The buried man lay upon a bed of down cushions in a coffin placed in a wooden chamber – a so-called chamber-grave. At his feet lay two axes. On the coffin lid a bronze bucket, two wooden buckets and a large wax candle had been placed. The man wore costly clothing decorated with purple and red silk, as well as embroideries in red and blue. It is not known whether the deceased was Christian or pagan. The motifs on the one axe can be interpreted as both of these, but the large candle is probably a Christian symbol. The fine quality of the furnishings shows that the deceased presumably belonged to the circle around King Harald Bluetooth.

 One of the most magnificent finds from the Viking Age is one of the axes from the grave at Mammen. It is made of iron with silver inlay. The axe is decorated in the so-called Mammen style, which is named after this particular find. The style arose in the 900s and it survived until around 1000. The motifs on the axe can be interpreted as both Christian and pagan.

On one side a tree motif can be seen. It may symbolise the Christian Tree of Life or the pagan tree Yggdrasil. On the other side is an animal figure – perhaps the rooster Gullinkambi (Old Norse “golden comb”) or the Phoenix. According to Norse mythology Gullinkambi sits on top of the tree Yggdrasil. Here it wakes the Viking warriors every morning and it will crow at the beginning of Ragnarok (the end of the world). The Phoenix is a Christian mythological animal and a symbol of re-birth.

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3500 years old amber bear amulet

The amber bear amulet was found in 1887 in a peat bog near Slupsk,Poland. When the figure was examined it turned out to be the amulet of a bear hunter, originating from the Neolithic period. It was dated at between 1700 B.C. and 650 B.C. 

Since the researchers were not precise regarding the age of the find, we can assume this figure is over three thousand years old. The original did not stay long in Slupsk since special protection was sought for the oldest item ever discovered in the Pomerania. The museum in Szczecin guaranteed safety, and the amber bear was placed there - probably until 1945. 

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Bored Viking on Gokstad Ship (1100 years ago)

Are you ever bored? What do you then? 

What would you do if you were Viking sailing for days on a small ship?

Life of a Viking was... monotonous. Living in small towns, looking after their farms and preparing for another military campaign. When they were ready, they went on their warships to sail for many days. 

One of the most amazing artifacts ever found is barely visible. On two wooden planks you can see small carvings which are... outlines of feet. Mighty Gokstad ship was found in found in a burial mound in Norway. It is one of the largest viking ships found. The Gokstad ship is clinker-built and constructed largely of oak. The ship was intended for warfare, trade, transportation of people and cargo. The ship is 23.80 metres (78.1 ft) long and 5.10 m (16.7 ft) wide. The ship was built to carry 32 oarsmen, and the oar holes could be hatched down when the ship was under sail. It utilized a square sail of approximately 110 square metres (1,200 sq ft), which, it is estimated, could propel the ship to over 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). The ship could carry a crew of 40 men but could carry a maximum of 70. 

Even though the ship was excavated 133 years ago and has been in Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum since 1932, researchers only noticed the footprints in 2009 when moving the loose floorboards.

Two small carvings was probably the work of a bored youth, much like kids these days might carve their initials into their desks. The right foot is quite visible while the outline of the left foot is only partially visible. The right foot is 22 centimeters long, which corresponds to shoe size 4 (Europe; 35). We believe that those carvings were made during sailing by some bored, young warrior just like modern teens do.  He wass crowded into a sleek sailing ship with 65 other men. Scarcely room to move. It’s been days since anybody has seen land − longer since anyone bathed. The old-timers’ repeated tales of bygone raids and voyages are beginning to wear thin. His place is behind an oar, but there is no need to row continuously on the North Sea. With wind in the sail, the boat surges towards England, where riches await. But what is there to do while waiting to reach a foreign coast?
Maybe it was a teenager engaged in a Viking version of tagging a school desk. In any case, someone took out his knife, bent down and traced the outline of his foot on the deck of the Gokstad Ship. "I was here" message from 1100 years ago.

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Roman slave collar

In the Museo Nazionale Romano–Terme di Diocleziano in Rome is an

iron neck ring with a bronze tag attached. Five lines of mysterious text were carved on it:

FVGITENEME

CVMREVOCV

VERISMEˇDMˇ ZONINOACCIPIS

SOLIDVM ⸙

Expanded and punctuated, this inscription reads “Fugi, tene me. Cum

revoc(a)veris me d(omino) m(eo) Zonino, accipis solidum” 

After translating we can discover one of the most amazing artifacts ever found.

I have run away; hold me. 

When you have brought me back to my master Zoninus, 

youwill receive a gold coin

This is a Roman slave collar, one of about 45 surviving examples that all date to the fourth and fifth centuries C.E.  Most have been found in Rome and central Italy, with three more from

the North African cities of Thelepte, Lambaesis, and Bulla Regia. The collars were inscribed either on the neck band itself or on a pendant tag, as this one was. The Zoninus collar is important because it is the only known example of a tag still hanging from its neck ring. The inscriptions on these collars and tags typically ask the viewer to stop the wearer from running away. Many also name the slave owner and provide an address to which the slave should be returned. Some include Christian terms and symbols, such as a ChiRho or this palm frond.  The Zoninus collar is unique

in promising a reward.  Not all enslaved people were required to wear such collars; most scholars have interpreted them as a punishment for an escape attempt and an alternative to the long-standing Roman practice of tattooing runaway slaves on the face. The Zoninus collar is important because it offers direct, physical evidence of Roman slavery. It tells us something about how enslaved people were treated and seen and what they experienced; it can help illuminate ideas and enforcement practices concerning the ownership of human bodies and their labor. 

The Zoninus collar is made of iron and bronze; as with other collars, the utilitarian materials match the everyday language of the inscription. The pendant tag was cut from a flat sheet of bronze into a rectangular shape with rounded corners, with a long, ribbonlike extension left at the top. This extension was bent forward and down, back onto the surface of the tag, to create a built-in attachment hoop, or bail, that was then riveted shut. The neck ring is heavily corroded but appears to have been made from an iron wire doubled back on itself and twisted along its entire length, creating loops at either end. This iron wire was probably threaded through the tag’s attachment hoop

during the making of the neck ring. 

Alternatively, the tag’s attachment hoop was folded over the finished neck ring and then riveted shut.  The inscriptions help clarify that purpose. The very first words on the Zoninus collar are fugi, tene me (“I have run away; hold me”). Almost all Roman slave collars ask viewers to stop the wearer from running away. The two most common phrases employed are tene me ne fugiam (“hold me so I do not run away”) and tene me quia fugi (“hold me because I have run away”). 

About half the collars also ask the reader to return the slave to the owner: revoca me (“return me”) or, phonetically spelled, reboca me. Throughout the Roman era, slave escape was a preoccupation of owners and punished by flogging, keeping the slave in chains, and tattooing letters or words on the forehead.  The Zoninus and other slave collars are a phenomenon of urban slavery in the Early Christian period in the western Roman empire, especially the city of Rome. At the same time, they participated in longer-term Roman practices of marking and controlling the bodies of slaves. Roman slave collars show how Roman visual, epigraphic, and material culture were marshaled to explain and enforce ideas about human property.  

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Amazing statue of Lector Priest Kaaper, 5500 years old

Sheikh el-Beled, was an ancient Egyptian scribe and priest who lived between the late 4th Dynasty and the early 5th Dynasty (around 2500 BCE). Despite his rank being not among the highest, he is well known for his famous wooden statue. Little is known of Kaaper's life; his titles were lector priest and army scribe of the King, the latter possibly linked to some military campaigns in Palestine.His mastaba (named "Saqqara C8") was discovered by Auguste Mariette in the Saqqara necropolis, just north of the Step Pyramid of Djoser. During the excavation, the Egyptian diggers unearthed the statue and, apparently impressed by its exceptional realism, they called it Sheikh el-Beled (Arabic for "Headman of the village") likely because of a certain similarity between the statue and their local elder. The statue – located in the Cairo Egyptian Museum, CG 34 – is 112 centimetres (3.67 ft) tall and carved from sycamore wood, and depicts the corpulent Kaaper while walking with a staff. The statue's round, peaceful face is almost lifelike thanks to the eyes, which were made using rock crystal and small copper plates; it is often cited as an example of the remarkable level of craftmanship and realism achieved during the late 4th Dynasty.

 From the same mastaba also came a wooden statue of a woman, commonly considered as Kaaper's wife (CG 33).

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The breastplate of cuirassier 23 years old Antoine Fraveau, struck and killed by a canonball. June, 1815, serving Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo

He was just 23 when a deadly cannonball struck him during one of the Waterloo skirmishes. He served as a of Napoleon's heavy cavalrymen during "The Hundred Days."  The Waterloo campaign is referred to as The Hundred Days, because such is the amount of time between Napoleon's return to France after his escape from the island of Elba and his final  defeat near the small town of Waterloo, Belgium.  Heavy calvarymen, such as Antoine Favreau, played a significant role in Napoleon's victories.  They would be wasted in the defeat which ended the Napoleonic Wars.


Favreau served as a Carabinier a Cheval -- a heavy cavalryman who wore armour on the battlefield.  Specifically, Favreau would have worn a helmet made of brass and iron with a red horsehair crest.  On his chest and back he wore  a brass and iron breast and backplate over his white tunic.  As a mounted man, he wore white leather riding pants and black riding boots that extended past the knee.  His primary weapon was a long, straight bladed sword, but he would also have carried a pair of pistols in holsters mounted on his saddle and a carbine.   The Carabiniers a Cheveaux must have been something to see with the sun shining off of their brass armour.

Napoleon was a master of battlefield tactics.  Many of his victories involved flanking maneuvers and deception   rather that brute force to win the day.  Waterloo was different.  At Waterloo, Napoleon would attempt brute strength to push Wellington and his multi-national army off of the field.   Much like Robert E. Lee, Napoleon attempted to defeat his enemy with massed  assaults on the flanks as well as the center. 

Napoleon was not well at Waterloo and the fates took advantage of his predicament.   In the afternoon when by chance Napoleon was indisposed, Wellington issued an order for his entire line to redeploy several yards to the rear.  Michel Ney, Napoleon's second in command, misinterpreted the redeployment to be a retreat.  As any good commander seeing a retreating enemy would,  Ney ordered the French cavalry to charge and rout the Anglo-Allied army. 

The night of June 17, 1815 was marked by torrential rain.  Thus, the ground was saturated when Ney's charge took place.  The French cavalrymen charged down the ridge, across the valley and up the opposite ridge to a plateau where they met the enemy infantry formed in squares.  In the days of linear tactics,  infantry  threatened by cavalry formed square.  The defensive position required the men in the  front rank of each side of the square to kneel with the butts of their muskets grounded and the bayonets angled upwards and out.  The remaining men faced out and fired at the cavalry.  Horses will not charge into the line of bayonets.  Thus, the charge is broken and the cavalrymen are picked off.  To defeat infantry in square,  either  infantry or artillery were brought up with the cavalry.  The infantry in square either stayed in square and were blown apart by musket or  cannon fire or the broke square and were run down and sabred by the cavalry. Because of the wet soil, the French cavalry could barely get above a gallop. They were under artillery fire the whole way and upon cresting the hill found infantry not retreating, but in square.  Looking behind, a French cavalryman saw neither supporting infantry or artillery.  No one had his back.  One charge and Ney should have known everything -- the soil is too wet to reach a charge,  British artillery is effective and, most importantly, the British are not retreating, but rather are formed in square.   While the initial charge was not improper, the successive charges ordered by Ney were.  Again and again the French cavalry were sent against the British squares.  Ney could have sent infantry and artillery support, but he didn't.  Ney could have ordered the British cannon hauled off or spiked (the British artillery man serviced their guns until the last second and then ran to the safety of the squares), but he didn't.  Rather, he wasted a valuable asset of Napoleon's army.  Ney failed his commander. While the French defeat cannot be blamed solely upon poor old Ney, he shares a good portion of the blame. The battlefield at Waterloo was roughly a mile deep by 2 miles wide, held nearly 200,000 men over the course of the day and and estimated 41,000 cannonballs we’re fired over the course of the battle.

But what about Antione Favreau?  Well, he died at Waterloo.  He suffered a mortal would when a cannon ball pierced his gleaming breast plate. A recent recruit, Fauveau’s height of 1.79 metres gave him the ideal stature for a heavy cavalry regiment. These, after all, were intended to be big men on big horses, riding down the enemy by the weight of their charge. The young man’s service papers also record that he had a “long, freckled face with a large forehead, blue eyes, hooked nose, and a small mouth”. Family legend has it that when his call-up papers arrived, François-Antoine was on the point of getting married, so his brother joined up, and died, in his place. Yet whoever was wearing it on 18 June 1815, this cuirass serves to emphasise the brutality of Napoleonic warfare at a most personal level.

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Scars of the Great War

When Gavrillo Princip took his pistol,  FN Model 1910 and shoot twice towards Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28th June 1914 he didn't realize that this was the start of biggest and bloodiest war in human history. War which in fact ended in 1945 and changed the world forever. 16 million people died in four years of fights with another 50 million victims of influenza epidemic as a aftermath.

The very last veteran of war was Florence Green, a British citizen who served in the Allied armed forces, and who died 4 February 2012, aged 110. We now have only artifacts, which remind us of worst war in history.

Gun that started I world war. Gavrilo Princip's FN M1910 (serial number 19074). After assasination Princip attempted suicide with a cyanide pill, but it was out-of-date , then tried to shoot himself, but the pistol was wrestled from his hand before he had a chance to fire another shot. Princip was nineteen years old at the time and too young to receive the death penalty, being twenty-seven days short of the twenty-year minimum age limit required by Habsburg law. Instead, he received the maximum sentence of twenty years in prison. He was held in harsh conditions which were worsened by the war, and contracted tuberculosis. He died on 28 April 1918 at Terezín 3 years and 10 months after the assassination. At the time of his death, weakened by malnutrition and disease, he weighed around 40 kilograms

The bloodstained coat of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Sarajevo, 1914. The first bullet wounded the Archduke in the jugular vein, the second inflicted an abdominal wound on the Duchess. Both victims remained seated upright, but died while being driven to the Governor's residence for medical treatment. As reported by Count Harrach, Franz Ferdinand's last words were "Sophie, Sophie! Don't die! Live for our children!" followed by six or seven utterances of "It is nothing," in response to Harrach's inquiry as to Franz Ferdinand's injury. These utterances were followed by a long death rattle. Sophie was dead on arrival at the Governor's residence. Franz Ferdinand died 10 minutes later.

Sheep graze in an area still dangerous from unexploded World War One munitions at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. It is estimated that during 4 years of fights more than 500 million shells were fired by artilery. Each year special units are recovering several tons of unexploded ammunition in France and Belgium.

The still pockmarked landscape of Somme battlefield. It was the biggest and bloodiest battle of Great War with more than one million death toll.

A member Commonwealth War Graves Commission displays a maple leaf, an army jacket emblem, found on the remains of a Canadian soldier by archaeologists in the city of Sancourt near Cambrai in northern France, on June 9, 2008. The soldier, who participated in the battle of Cambrai, fought from September to October 1918, was part of the 78th Winnipeg Battalion of Manitoba, part of the 4th Canadian Division.

Trees stand where the village of Fleury once stood, near Verdun, on March 5, 2014. A hundred years after the guns fell silent in World War One, nine villages wiped out by fighting on France's bloodiest battleground continue to lead a ghostly existence. Their names still appear on maps and in government records. Mayors representing them are designated by local authorities. But most of the streets, shops, houses and people who once lived around the French army stronghold of Verdun are gone.

Lochnagar crater. On 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 16 tons of ammonal were detonated. It had obliterated between 300 and 400 feet (91 and 122 metres) of the German dug-outs, all said to have been full of German troops.

Archeological workers unearth a British WWI Mark IV tank in Flesquieres, near Cambrai in northern France, on November 19, 1998. British troops abandoned the tank on November 20, 1917, and German troops then buried it and used it as a bunker.

A pair of shoes, believed to belong to a British soldier, have been excavated from a trench dated from the World War I near the Belgian city of Ypres on the Western Front November 10, 2003. Belgian archaeologists, aided by British military experts, found remains of soldiers as well as weapons and other objects.

Unexploded shells are lined up along a wall awaiting removal by bomb-disposal experts after a French farmer found them while plowing his fields near the Courcelette British cemetery, the scene of a WWI battlefield in the Somme

Inside view of a WWI trench at Massiges, northeastern France, on March 28, 2014. During the war, the battlefield between the Champagne and Argonne fronts was taken and lost several times by French and German troops between September 1914 and September 1915. During trench restoration works, in the last two years, the Main de Massiges Association has found seven bodies of WWI soldiers.

Remains of unidentified soldiers at the ossuary of Douaumont, eastern France, on February 9, 2014. The ossuary holds the remains of 130,000 unidentified French and German soldiers who died in the battle of Verdun. 700 000 casualties in 20 square kilemeters of battlefield.

atches found with the remains of French WW1 soldiers, on June 3, 2013 in Verdun, France. At least 26 bodies of French soldiers were found in the cellar of a farm in the totally destroyed village of Fleury-devant-Douaumont. Seven were identified by their military identification plate.

A vestige of alpine warfare, an Italian cannon still stands on Cresta Croce, a 3,000-meter-high Adamello ridge, WWI. Fights in Alps were extremly dangerous due to severe cold and avalanches.

AuLion Trench Knife, I World War. Fights in trenches had more in common with medieval battles. Due to short distances and lack of space, knives, clubs and swords were more effective than pistols.

Mephisto - the last surviving example of the first German military tank A7V. One of only 20 built. Captured by Australian troops at the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux on 24 April 1918

Webley .455 Mark 6 revolver belonging to J.R.R. Tolkien, First World War, 1916-1918.

WWl Horse's gas mask, found at a German equipment dump in Rozières, France, in August 1918 by the British Army. It is estimated than more than million horses died during war, while surviving ones were sent to slaughterhouses to fill food needs.

An aerial view shows Canadian National Vimy Memorial on Vimy Ridge, northern France March 20, 2014, the scars of craters and trenches still visible. This memorial site is dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War.

Red poppies bloom on the walls of preserved World War I trenches in Diksmuide, Belgium



Though the events of World War I have now fallen out of living memory, the remnants remain -- scarred landscapes, thousands of memorials, artifacts preserved in museums, photographs, and the stories passed down through the years -- stories of such tremendous loss. More than 65 million soldiers were mobilized by more than 30 nations, with battles taking place around the world. Industrialization brought modern weapons, machinery, and tactics to warfare, vastly increasing the killing power of armies. Battlefield conditions were horrific, typified by the chaotic, cratered hellscape of the Western Front, where soldiers in muddy trenches faced bullets, bombs, gas, bayonet charges, and more. Never again.

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Baltic Troy

Near the shore of Tollense river, few kilometers from modern Polish-Germany border archeologist have found signs of enormous battle that was fought 3300 years ago. Which is really surprising as we were sure that 3 millenia ago this region was on the outskirts of ancient civilizations, habited only by small, primitive groups.

However newest excavations showed that more than 2000 killometers from borders of greek civilizations biggest battle of bronze age took place, way bigger than fights between greek polis. In the region where you can only expect small skirmishes between villages we now know that the battle was pan european. Examinations of skeletons proved (by DNA research) that warriors came to fight and die from whole Europe - modern Italy, Poland, Scandinavia, Greece.

We only know one huge conflict from that times - halfmythic war of Troy, which was probably held in modern Turkey.

To show how important Tollense battle was we need to compare it to the biggest battle of middle ages: Grunwald Battle, which took place in 1410 AD and was fought by aprox. 50-100k knights, with result of 16k deaths. Excavations on Grunwald fields are taking place for 50 years and as for now we have found skeletons of 200 warriors, 10 crossbow bolts, 6 fragments of armoured gloves, few remains of sword and one axe.

In Tollense, after excavations  5-10% of battlefield archeologists (450sqm) found few thousand skeletal remains of at least 130 warriors, remains of 5 horses and huge amount of clubs, spears.

Region of Tollense was ruled 1000 years before battle by unique Unietyce culture, which created amazing Nebra Sky Disc, which is one of the first ever maps of sky, with sun, moon and stars (it might have been a bronze age calendar), predating other (Babylonian) sky maps by 1000 years.

We don't know which culture lived in Tollense region when the battle took place. Probably it was the nordic culture responsible for crafting Sun Charriot of Trundholm, 1600 BC.

Artefacts found on the battlefield can be connected to both cultures: Unietyce (2200-1600 BC) and Nordic/Lusatian (1300-400BC).

Unietyce culture introduced central Europe into Bronze Age, as the north and east of continent was still in stone age. Unietyce rapidly grew due to effective mining of crucial for Bronze Age tin and copper. This cuture was expanding in south-north route directions, by Odra river. Why? Because the trade route of amber and tin was extremly important for south Europe.

So as we know that the warriors of Tollense battle came from whole continent, the battle was definately more important than local skirmish. Quick look at regionalsituation in 1300/1200 BC will help us understand importance of the battle.

Before (1300BC) the battle of Tollense, the Indus Valley civilization collapsed, which was the biggest civilization of those times. At the same time the Lusatian culture started to expand.

Then the battle of Tollense took place.

After (1200BC) the battle ancient world was shocked by Late Bronze Age collapse, when Hetite, Egypt, Mykenis suddenly collapsed and went into dark ages for centuries. We believe that the mysterious People of the Sea were responsible for collapses.

So knowing that the warriors of Tollense came from mediterranean area and it political situation was very dynamic, we might suppose that the battle was directly connected with Late Bronze Age collapse. Especially by the fact that all of the fallen cultures were previously trading with Tollense region cultures. Pomerania, where the battle took place was the starting point for amber trade route. Fallen empires were on the main consumers of products of north. Batlic amber was recenty found insyrian Quatna royal tombs, Cyprus and on on the mummy of king Tut.

Tollense battlefield is located on the shore of the big river, newest excavations showed that there was also a bridge there. It must have been a border battle, where one of the sides tried to stop the second from crossing the river. But from crossing in which direction?

Events 2000 years later than the Tollense battle can show us more hints. In 9th century AD mighty nordic Vikings started to expand into central Europe. However they were stopped by Slavs in Pomeranian region. After that, they changed  expansions directions into west and east of Europe. They conqured Russia, South Italy and England. Their invasions had significant influence in middle ages history - the Vikings started Norman dynasty in England, expelled Byzantium from south of Italy etc. In result Vikings changed Europe and started processes that caused end of middle ages.

So how about the same scenario 2000 years earlier? We don't know much about myserious organized groups that were able to create two armies. We only know that their expansion changed ancient Europe. Their migration (from north!) was a result of climate change. So what if the Tollense battle had impact on direction of expansion? What if the battle saved central Europe and inflicted collapse of south part of continent?

Unfortunately we do not have many archeologic proves from that times. However there are several clues that can show us that central Europe,  Baltic Sea area was not as we think of it.

1. German bishop Adam from Bremen in 1080 AD wrote about the biggest city in Europe. Located on the delta of Odra river to the Baltic Sea. City was called Jumne where Slavs, Barbarians and Greeks lived together. So when in 1000 AD we had there greek traders and in 1250BC Italian warriors - was the legendary city real? We can be almost sure that delta of Odra was really important through millenias. Arab trader (and in fact spy for Callif Al-Hakam II) Ibrahin ibn Jakub also wrote that the west Pomeranian region was important and wealthy. Local ruler - Mieszko, even gave a camel as a gift to German Emperor Otto III. So knowing this we have another hint, that the region was far more advanced than we currently think. And we know that each culture does not emerge from zero, but come by processes and previous cultures.

Fun fact: Ibn Jakub writes also that few hundred kilometer east from Jumne there is a small only-women culture which is specialised in wars and trade. In modern times, in Mazury region (200 km from Odra river) there is a Frombork city, which name came from german Frauenburg, meaning City of Women.

2.  Baltic origin of Troy. In 1995 Felice Vinci wrote a book which is extremly interesting with comparison to modern archeology findings. Baltic origins of Homers Epic Tales states that the mythic battle of Troy and long journey of Oddyseus did not took place in Anatolia and Greek coasts but in fact way further north - on North and Baltic Sea. When we look deeper into Oddysey and Illiad the descriptions of places, the climate does not fit to the regions of South Europe. 

His thesis states that Greeks, which won over Trojans are in fact nordic people. And the Troy was not located as thought in Turkey but somewhere near Baltic Sea.  For example Ogygia island, where Oddyseus was trapped for 7 years during his journey is located (according to Plutarch) 5 days of sailing from England. Homer stated that Ogygia island was cold, snowy and often foggy, where the sun in summer does not go down completly. The sea there is always dark and grey. So this island cannot be located on Mediterranean Sea, where snow does not fall, fogs are rare and the sun goes down every part of the year. You can fit the tales more accurately with Faroe Island, north of Denmark. 

Cold climate and sun position fits way better there than 2500km south. Even the name one of the islands - Føroyar can be devided into oyar (plurar of oy, in old faroese language meaning island). In modern faroeses language island means oyggj, which is quiet simiar to Homer's Ōgygíē. One of the Faroe Islands is called Mykines, which shows simmilarities with greek language.

Even the general name of people from Homer Tales: Achaeans /Danaans shows interesting connections. Oddyseus was a hero of Dannans, where Homer states that they have created Mycenaean culture. However there are no proves that the greeks from Mycenaean culture called themselves in that way. Only Hyttite empire informs of Ahhiyawa people that came from the sea and attacked minor Asia and Cyprus (Ahhiyawa=Acheans?). Achilles, Achean hero was bragging in Illiad that he plundered 23 cities. So maybe Achaeans were not local greeks but the famous people of the Sea that emiggrated into south Europe?

You can read more about this theory here (free)

3. But the real Troy was found!

In Hisarlik, Schliemann have found  remains of walls, which he believed were the remains of ancient Troy. Yes, in fact the city was destroyed in 1250 AD. However his findings were controversial as he was famous for making shows instead of real excavations. Also the Homer's description of Troy does not fit with excavations. Hisarlik remains does not have geothermal water as descripted in Illiad, however Baltic region of Odra (especially Wolin Island) does. Newest excavations showed that the Hisarlik city was destroyed by earthquake and not by war. Even the famous Priam's treasure is 1000 years older than the battle of Troy. So the doubts about location of real Troy are rising. The Hisarlik was a important city, but not the hero of Homer Tales. 

4. Tin as a source of Troy War.

Every day brings additional discoveries which changes our views over ancient north Europe. Maybe the Tollense Battle was in fact a base for the Homer myths? It is worth noting that until our times only a small part of original Homer Tales survived. What if Tollense was biggest battle between Danaans (invaders) and Trojans (local groups)?

There are more clues showing that only in central and north Europe there were cultures able to create and supply huge armies. Cultures of South were slowly collapsing (it is always a process), which ended with dark ages. What about north? The answer can be found in most important material of those times: bronze. Bronze, which was crucial for weapons making. Bronze is made by a mix of copper and tin. As there are plenty of copper deposists in whole Europe, the problem starts with tin. In Tollense excavations the most significant findings were inglots of pure tin. The tin was more important than gold, was extremly precious as it was a source of power. Even Homer writes that tin was very important for both of sides. It was a strategic resource. Julius Cezar have invaded Britain only to control tin deposist in Cornwall. 

So where the tin was mined? Not in south Europe, there only one minor deposit in Italy. Most of deposits can be found on far north. First mining of tin in north Europe started in 2500 BC in Rudawy Region, modern Germany. About 100km east, in Poland archeologists have found remains of biggest mettalurgical center from 1600 BC (Bruszczewo).

So knowing that the Tollense battle area was famous for their tin deposists and mettalurgical processing center, why not connect it with Troyan war? We have tin, climate fitting Illiad and we have biggest battle of that times in one area.

5. Don't forget about amber.

Homer states that the grand chamber of Menelaos Palace was made out of amber. In fact amber was second most important resource of that times, still more worth than gold. And the Baltic's amber was the most precious. With it's unique level of succinic acid was desirabled in whole ancient world. It was found in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and whole greek world. In greek myths Argonauts were sailing thru Erydan river to find Golden Fleece. On the end of their journey they found island of Electrum. Erydan was the name of river which the Baltic was before it changed into sea. Elektrum is another name for amber in Greek.

The golden fleece legend tells also about siblings Helle and Fryksos, that have run away from their step-mother Ino on golden ram. Helle, while running away slipped of the ram and drowned. The sea was named after her (Helles Ponte). In modern times on the shore of Baltic we have towns with surprisingly names like Hel, Helsinki, Helblag (currently Elblag). Now that Helles Pont is considered to be located in Dardanelle, near Turkey. However Homer Talles states that Helles Ponte was wide, huge. Look on the map. Maybe Baltic is a Helles Ponte?

We  know that the Baltic Sea was not on outskirts of ancient world. The region was a greatest supplier and major player in ancient economy. So the reasons why the biggest ancient battle took place there seems more clear. 

6. Sky map

One of the parts of Illiad depicts the process of crafting the shield of Achilles.by god Hephaestus  Read here

Yes, quiet simillar to the Nebra Sky Disk. Even the materials of which the disk is made fits. Even if the Nebra Sky disk is older than Trojan war, the culture that created it, was really fluent in astrologhy and methallurgy. So yet another connection between Troy and Tollense. 

7. Troyans

We don't know who were they. The only other source of Troyan war was a letter from Hettite emperor adressed to brother of Ahhiyawa king. In Illiad, Troy is also named as Ilion/Willion. So the Ilion was turkish Husarlik or maybe somwhere else?

Troyan Land is also the name of pagan cultures that worshiped three-head god called Trojan. The god Trojan was a major part of slavic believes from Balkans, Pomerania up to Russia. Main region of Trojan worshipping was area of  modern Szczecin, 30km from Baltic, just at the end of Odra River. So really close to Tollense. Trojan symbol was a block horse, one of Troyan pagan people tradition was building a wooden, black horse to sacrifice it. Looks familiar. So maybe, people of Troyan were all connected by a belief in might god Trojan, and their high interactions built a wealthy and important region that controlled tin deposits and amber route. However they were not able to unify and built a civilization, but remained as small groups joining together in case of external danger. 

So in fact, the Tollense battle could have been a war to control treasures of amber and tin. There is no other reason that 3300 years ago, two giant armies fought on the shore of river 2500km from ancient civilizations. Oddysey and Illiad might be a story of war of resources between local warlords and invaders from other parts of europe. Maybee result of the battle changed ancient Europe, destroyed the north-south trade and started processes that ended first civilizations of south europe. As we have researched only up to 10% of battlefield more surprising results will come. Also the archology in the region is still behind, there might be new surprisies.



And the battle istelf.

Thousands of bone fragments belonging to a very large number of persons have been discovered along with further corroborating evidence of battle; current estimates indicate that perhaps 4,000 warriors fought in a battle on the site in the 13th century BC. Since the population density then was about 5 people per square kilometer, this would have been the most significant battle in Bronze Age. Most of these remains were those of young men between the ages of 20 and 40. At one spot, 1,478 bones were found within just 12 sq. m. - maybe the remnant of a heap of corpses or of a final pocket of resistance. As no clear traces of healing have been found on any of the wounds, the whole encounter seems to have taken place in not much more than a day. 26% of skeletons "show signs of healed traumas from earlier fights, including three skulls with healed fractures", so many trained and experienced warriors seem to have taken part. Spears, clubs, swords, knives, sickles and arrows were used. Several of the more than 40 found skulls show signs of battle wounds. A bronze arrowhead was found in one of them. Contrasting such arrowheads with ones made from flint and with wooden clubs, it has been surmised that two differently-equipped groups confronted each other. At least some of the combatants rode into battle as evidenced by horse bones (of at least five specimens) found on site. The arrowhead's position in the initially found humerus bone shows that an archer on foot wounded a horseman. The fact that almost no material finds were made between the bones except for single arrowheads, suggests that the corpses were robbed after the fight. The victors probably threw the dead into the river, which carried them downstream, given the fact that most remains are no longer in anatomical connection. They were then deposited in a calmer part of the river, covered by turf and thereby partially conserved. It has been speculated that a better-armed group from the South or West wanted to cross the river on their way north- or eastwards on a strategic, long-established causeway. This road might well have been used for long-distance trade in tin and luxury goods (like e.g. the pearls from the Persian Gulf, found near Halle, or the Mediterranean glass pearls found close to nearby Neustrelitz; both finds from 1200 BC). The battle seems to coincide with a period of heightened militancy 3250 years ago, as metal became increascingly scarce north of the Alps and populations seem to have moved.

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