En arkeologihistorisk studie kring synen på Bronsålderskrigföring

Abstract

A study of the history of archaeology shows that in the earlier times of archaeological science emphasis was put into collecting, counting, categorizing, and keeping activities. In the latter half of the twentieth century, a search for contexts with a holistic interest in greater understanding for the individual and its cultural interactions on different levels gradually develops. Thanks to this process, archaeologists have become increasingly interested to develop interdisciplinary collaborations with sciences such as for instance anthropology to create new model for the understanding of the past. Ethnographic studies have been also used to varying degrees, although the use and reading of these studies has been from time to time criticized since there are few primitive cultural groups and societies of recent times completely protected from the influence of the contemporary world. With an eye to history of archaeology, from New Archaeology (Processual Archaeology), to post-processual archaeology, until its today likely being on its way into something new. Following Kristian Kristiansen (2014) recent analysis of contemporary archaeology, it is here acknowledged that a paradigm shift is likely taking place since there are many new interdisciplinary approaches to the archaeological material with the potential to revolutionize the archaeology science. The present study focus on warfare studies within Bronze Age archaeology. The aim is to show that Bronze Age warfare has been variously understood throughout the history of archaeology, and to problematize and discuss the historical and scientific reasons for that to happen. What is noticeable is that, although the existence of Bronze Age weapons and warriors has been always widely acknowledged, is that it is very difficult to find literature about ”warfare” before 1996. It seems that before the mid 90ies, warfare during the Bronze Age was widely underestimated and the period was more or less treated as a pacific time. War and violence- related material culture were mainly interpreted as symbolic or ritual. In 1996, Lawrence H. Keeley published the "War Before Civilization" book, which served as an eye opener for archaeology and imposed to consider the existence of warfare in the prehistory. After this, literature is increasingly easy to find on the subject and many important achievements have been doing in understanding the issue (see Otto et al. 2006). One of the latter additions is Horn and Kristiansen's book "Warfare in Bronze Age Society" (2018), where not only the latest studies and theories about Bronze Age Warfare are presented, but also suggestions for future studies.