Oct 13, 2026 · 27 min · 11 segments
What can ancient weapons reveal about the choices people made in the past? Archaeologist and art historian, Dr. Tenninger Kellenbarger, guides us through the world of Bronze Age Aegean weaponry. In…
So, you mentioned this in your origin story a bit, that when people picture weapons, you're thinking they're serving maybe one purpose, but we both know that's not necessarily the case.
So there's different contexts, so whether it's the artistic realm, where we are seeing them placed in visual narratives and scenes of combat.
So a lot of the times within the Aegean world, we will term these warrior graves just because of the entire assemblage that is going to be present in the ground.
And then sometimes we just have weapons on their own, which comes a little bit later, but it's also present in the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Period and moving throughout the Bronze Age in the Aegean, where we see just hoards of swords being left as votives, as offerings.
We see this massive deposition of just weapons, different types, types A and type B.
We see massive changes within the sizes of the swords and the sizes of the blades.
And then in the burial context, when we see them sometimes right next to their owner in death, the blades will sometimes actually be folded over, and that is what we call killing a weapon, is the weapon was seen as an extension of the owner.
You use it in life to help take down enemies, to conquer and rule, but when you pass on, your weapons also join you into whatever world comes after this one.
So when we see weapons that are folded, they're likely going to the afterlife with their owner.
And then when we see it in small miniature visual narratives, like on seals and signet rings, it also tells us just about how people are viewing power through violence and through bloodshed, that that is how they are expressing components of power and how they're taking it.
So, you mentioned this in your origin story a bit, that when people picture weapons, you're thinking they're serving maybe one purpose, but we both know that's not necessarily the case.
So there's different contexts, so whether it's the artistic realm, where we are seeing them placed in visual narratives and scenes of combat.
So a lot of the times within the Aegean world, we will term these warrior graves just because of the entire assemblage that is going to be present in the ground.
And then sometimes we just have weapons on their own, which comes a little bit later, but it's also present in the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Period and moving throughout the Bronze Age in the Aegean, where we see just hoards of swords being left as votives, as offerings.
We see this massive deposition of just weapons, different types, types A and type B.
We see massive changes within the sizes of the swords and the sizes of the blades.
And then in the burial context, when we see them sometimes right next to their owner in death, the blades will sometimes actually be folded over, and that is what we call killing a weapon, is the weapon was seen as an extension of the owner.
You use it in life to help take down enemies, to conquer and rule, but when you pass on, your weapons also join you into whatever world comes after this one.
So when we see weapons that are folded, they're likely going to the afterlife with their owner.
And then when we see it in small miniature visual narratives, like on seals and signet rings, it also tells us just about how people are viewing power through violence and through bloodshed, that that is how they are expressing components of power and how they're taking it.
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