EXARC Journal (May 2020)
Book Review: Bronze Age Combat: An Experimental Approach by Raphael Hermann et al
Abstract
Cometh the hour, cometh the book? There was a considerable anticipatory kerfuffle on archaeological social media about the release of Bronze Age Combat: an experimental approach, and rightly so. It is much more than just an experimental archaeology book with rather gorgeous photographs of swords, spears and shields (although it is that too!). It is a rare publication which manages to straddle the worlds of academia and experimental archaeology deftly. The authors, Hermann, Crellin, Uckelmann, Wang and Dolfini, have been at the forefront of experimental work on weaponry since 2013, with the launch of the Bronze Age Combat Project in Newcastle University, United Kingdom. The project may have taken its inspiration from the pioneering use-wear research on Bronze Age weaponry by Roberts and Ottaway (2003), and of course Bridgford (2003), but it has very much taken on its own research identity, as is shown by this publication.
