IRISH SWORDS: USE AND ABUSE Ian Colquhoun ABSTRACT There are over 600 Late Bronze Age swords from Ireland, each with a different story to tell. To many archaeologists these weapons epitomise the warlike nature of a period dominated by a new aggressive technology. This paper discusses the relevant typology, examines the survival of these prehistoric weapons, and then discusses the reasons why so many swords show damage to the hilt, blade edges or the blade. KEYWORDS Late Bronze Age – swords – edge damage – hilt damage - sword typology INTRODUCTION Holding a bronze sword made around three thousand years ago is a magical experience. Each particular weapon has its own history, its own story of manufacture, use and deposition – of its birth, its life and its death. Each carries the individual marks of the parts it played within the lives and the deaths of people and communities in a distant Ireland of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1150–800/600 BC). Each would have been recognised by its maker and the owner, or owners, who may have carried it around with them every waking hour, and guarded it jealously during their sleeping hours. This paper explores some aspects of the evidence for the use – the life – of these bronze swords of the Late Bronze Age in Ireland and examines the possible reasons why they show particular and commonly occurring types of damage. It also examines why swords made two thousand years ago should survive to find their way into modern collections. I am currently undertaking research on these weapons, and hope to draw and record every example, especially those discovered since the 1960s. Observations discussed here are based largely on those swords I have already drawn and examined at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. There are many more yet to see as this is very much work in progress. PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND TYPOLOGY The Bronze Age swords of Ireland were drawn and researched by George Eogan for his doctoral thesis and published as a catalogue by the National Museum of Ireland in 1965. This was a large undertaking, and, almost half a century later, the catalogue remains the basis for any study of these weapons. Eogan divided the swords into six classes, a typology which continues in use for those working on the Bronze Age in Ireland. There are over 600 swords or sword fragments in the catalogue. To guide those less familiar with the typology, I summarise the different types below, and equate them both with the typology in use for the British swords and types defined by earlier authors. Terminology will be considered first. Features are described starting with the hilt. On the very earliest swords this consisted of a simple tang, which developed into a flanged hilt section surmounted by a splayed terminal. Organic plates, made of wood, horn, or bone were then riveted to the hilt using bronze rivets through holes or slots in the hilt and shoulders. In addition globular or hat like pommels were attached to the terminal. These too were made of organic material; evidence for this comes in the form of surviving cast bronze pommels and grips from Britain and Europe, but none, unfortunately, from Ireland. One find of interest here is the wooden sword from Cappagh, Co. Kerry (Waddell 2000, fig. 131.5) with its integral carved pommel. Late Bronze Age Irish swords did not have a hilt guard; instead, the shoulders splayed out to form a U or, more commonly, a V shape. Between the shoulders and the top of the blade edge the sides are often indented or flattened (the ricasso), sometimes with the top of the blade edge forming a clear notch (the ricasso notch). This feature can also be seen on later swords from historical periods as well as some modern knives, and is designed as a safety issue either to stop the user’s hand sliding onto the blade or to catch and slow down the opponent’s blade before it dam- 52 Ian Colquhoun ages the user’s hand. Doubtless it had the same function in prehistory. The blade forms the major part of any sword, and extends from the ricasso to the point. The majority of Late Bronze Age swords from throughout western Europe have leaf shaped blades, with the widest part of the blade around two thirds down from the terminal. From here the blade narrows to a point. Swords were worked or annealed to produce a sharp edge defined by a bevel. The exact shape of the blade and the bevel would have been influenced by the preferences of the owner and later resharpening. Blades sometimes have a deviation to left or right, either as an accidental feature or a preference of the user (Kristiansen 2002, 320). Blade sections vary from lozenge shaped in the earlier swords to lenticular (or elliptical) in the majority of flange hilted swords. Eogan’s Class 1 equates with the Ballintober type, first defined and mapped by H. W. M. Hodges (1956, 37). These are tanged swords with wide shoulders. The tangs are lozenge shaped in cross section and flangeless, similar in shape to those of earlier rapiers. Four rivets would have secured organic hilt plates to the tang, although no such plates have survived for this type. The blades are leaf shaped with either a lozenge shaped, flattened lozenge or lenticular section. Interestingly, the distribution is split largely between the Thames valley and the northern half of Ireland (Hodges 1956, 32 fig. 3: Colquhoun and Burgess 1988, pl. 118, 119; Waddell 2000, fig. 82) suggesting close links between the two areas during the earlier part of the Late Bronze Age. Eogan’s Class 2 encompasses the few early flange hilted swords found in Ireland. These have characteristic wide convex ‘U shaped’ shoulders and wide leaf shaped blades with a lozenge cross section. Their clear continental ancestry was recognised by W. P. Brewis (1923) and J. D. Cowen (1951). Many of the continental blades carry ornamentation, in the form of inscribed lines or milling, notably either below the shoulders or on the ricasso. Eogan’s Class 3 swords have more pronounced and graceful leaf shaped blades with lenticular sections. The shoulders are narrower than Class 2 and ‘V shaped’. The hilts are flanged and the rivets were secured to the sword through slotted hilts or large holes. They can be compared with the British Wilburton type, most common in south eastern England (Burgess and Colquhoun 1988, pl. 124–126). These are clearly ancestral to the Ewart Park type, a development seen most clearly in the swords in the Blackmoor hoard (Colquhoun 1979). In Ireland swords of Class 3 are not as numerous as their British equivalents. Most Irish swords – 440 out of the 624 listed by Eogan – fall within his definition of Class 4. These are paralleled closely in Britain by the Ewart Park type first recognised by Cowen (1933). Examples from throughout Ireland can be compared directly with the hundreds from England, Scotland and Wales, where they also appear to have formed the standard weapon for the Late Bronze Age warrior. While there are regional differences the basic style is strikingly homogeneous. The terminal is always splayed. Hilts are generally bowed, and are normally narrower below the terminal than at the top of the shoulders. Hilt edges are always flanged, and in cross section the hilt often shows strengthening ribs or projections. Rivet holes normally number two or three on the hilt and two to six on the V shaped shoulders. There is almost always a ricasso, either straight or slightly concave. The absence of a ricasso on any weapon is likely to be due to extreme wear or post deposition corrosion. Blades are always undecorated and leaf shaped with a lenticular cross section. One particularly noticeable feature in Ireland is that the blades vary widely in length, with many being noticeably short. For example, the complete and unaltered sword from Lough Gur, Co. Limerick (Eogan 1965, no. 208) is only 43,5 cm long, while the sword from Inishmore, Co. Cavan (Eogan 1965, no. 545), is just under 46 cm long (fig. 1.4). By comparison, few Ewart Park swords with a verifiable British provenance are shorter than 50 cm. Eogan subdivided Class 4 into four subdivisions, with Classes 4c and 4d showing some Hallstatt influence as described in Class 5 below. Similar influences can be seen on Ewart Park swords of Step 4 in south east England (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988, 74 f.). This development was first recognised by Cowen (1967, 412) as a devolved version of the Ewart Park series and called by him the ‘Thames Type’. Class 5 comprise the classic Hallstatt C swords found throughout western and central Europe as well as the Atlantic fringes. These are often beautifully made and finished, with neatly defined blade edges. Cowen (1967, 391) described them as the ‘Hallstatt sword of bronze par excellence’. The terminals are normally notched and have rivet holes, probably designed to hold large, possibly hat shaped, pommels. Hilts are wide, bowed and flat or dished in section, with only slight flanges. Rivet holes are generally small Irish Swords: Use and Abuse 53 Figure 1: Unprovenanced, probably Ireland (National Museum of Ireland, no. R372); figure 2: Knockadoo, Co. Roscommon (National Museum of Ireland, no. W86); figure 3: Meelick, Co. Roscommon (National Museum of Ireland, no. 1985.88); figure 4: Inishmore, Co. Cavan (National Museum of Ireland, no. 1937.3647); figure 5: Keelogue Ford, Co. Galway (National Museum of Ireland, no. W47) Ian Colquhoun 54 and, where the rivets survive, these are often pin like, with decorated heads, and less than 2 mm in diameter. Shoulders are more widely splayed than on Class 4 swords and may be straight or slightly concave. The ricasso is always concave, and the top of the blade edge often forms a distinctive prominent swept back notch, in itself a decorative feature. A further distinguishing feature is the defined central rib extending from the upper blade to just below the lowest rivet hole on the hilt. These are long swords by the standards of the time; the sword from near Athlone, Co. Westmeath (Eogan 1965, no. 532), for example, measures 75,6 cm. The leaf shape of the long blades is not only less pronounced than Class 4, but also narrower. The maximum blade width is nearer the hilt, and often noticeably less than the shoulder width. The bevel edges are frequently well defined with raised beading and the blade section is generally slightly flattened along the centre, though some Irish swords have a simpler cross section with wide bevels. Although the point bevels are always blunted the main mass of the blade normally comes to a clearly defined point. Class 6 swords are basically weapons with wide Class 4 blades and hilts with features closer to Class 5. These form a small group, the main distinguishing difference between Class 4c and Class 6 being that the latter have shoulders that are more splayed and even concave. SWORD SURVIVAL Before looking at what sword damage signifies, it is worth considering the possible reasons why, firstly, the inhabitants of Late Bronze Age Ireland should have placed their prized weapons within a river, a bog or the soil, and why, secondly, these swords should have been recovered within the last two hundred years or so. There are more swords per square kilometre with an Irish provenance or labelled ‘Ireland’ in museums and collections throughout the world than from any other European country, as many as 7.61/km2 as opposed to 2.87/km2 for Britain as a whole (Harding 2000, Table 8.1). Precise find spots are, however, often difficult or impossible to pinpoint. Of those with a known provenance to some reasonable degree of accuracy, around 35 % are from rivers or loughs and about 25 % are from bogs, indicating that the majority of weapons have come from either ‘wet’ locations or locations near to water. Of those from rivers and loughs, many if not most were found during dredging designed to improve the navigation of a relatively small number of rivers such as the Shannon, the Bann and the Erne. Published distribution maps clearly show the concentration of swords in these locations (Eogan 1965, fig. 84; Cooney and Grogan 1994, fig. 9.1; Waddell 2000, fig. 132). There is no reliable record of any Irish sword being found in association with a burial. The paucity of burials in the archaeological record for this period has been discussed elsewhere (Mallory and McNeill 1991, 138; Cooney and Grogan 1994, 144) and it is conceivable that cremated bone and ashes may simply have been placed in rivers or on the fringes of settlements, possibly with bronze metalwork. Whether deposited with or without a cremation, the placing of a sword or swords in a chosen place would have been, in most cases, a deliberate act with the objects permanently destined for the earth. Placing a sword or swords in the ground or in water at a particular location is a practice documented throughout Ireland and Britain. For example, deliberate permanent deposition was identified at Flag Fen in Cambridgeshire where Wilburton and Ewart Park swords were placed in the ground at the edges of settlements (Pryor 2003). Placing bronzes at liminal locations of contemporary significance may be the reason why there are so many swords from rivers and other possible boundary or prominent features within a local landscape. It must be stressed that the landscape of Bronze Age Ireland, like anywhere in western Europe, was very different from that of today. Rivers followed their natural courses and were left to flood without artificial impediment. Many riverside hamlets or small settlements on islands would have disappeared as the river changed course. One area which flooded regularly in the past is Toome, on the boundary of counties Antrim and Derry, where the Lower Bann drains Lough Neagh northwards towards the coastline of Ulster. At least 13 swords, of Classes 2, 4 and 5, have been found here, at or near spots known to be fording points prior to the dredging which took place during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Bourke 2001, 20). As well as marking boundaries, such fording points would have been places of local or regional political significance, important trading route ways, and perhaps centres of population. Today Toome is at the juncture of three modern administrative areas. Fording points may also have been scenes of conflict, as they were in historical times. Such an idea initially suggests large scale battles rath- Irish Swords: Use and Abuse er than the skirmishes that are normally envisaged as the everyday reality of Late Bronze Age warfare. This explanation of ‘battle loss’ should not be dismissed completely, although retrieving weapons post conflict from shallow fording places may not have been difficult. Such clashes may have been as relevant in prehistory as the Battle of the Boyne has been for the last three hundred years. Deliberate deposition could have been designed to be temporary. It would be possible to literally drop a sword, point first, into a bog at a location measured from a fixed landscape feature, with the intention of recovering it. Such a sword may even have been interred in a similar fashion many times over its life, perhaps as part of a ritual for the death of its owner or change of ownership for some other reason. Deposition for intended retrieval would have taken place in a landscape that was embedded in peoples’ minds and where specific features, perhaps as simple as a small island within a bog, held meaning (Needham 2001; Becker 2007). The location of such a deposition, whether ritual or for recycling, could become forgotten or the sword may not have been retrieved for some other reason. The same fate could have been suffered by bronze intended for recycling. Bronze survives remarkably well in conditions where organic material or iron deteriorates or disappears completely. Doubtless swords were recovered by farmers and turf cutters (and melted down) over the centuries, but it was only with the rise of interest in the distant past that the antiquity of these weapons was realised. Many, if not most, nineteenth century finds were by manual workers, whether in the fields, cutting turf, or dredging rivers such as the Shannon and Bann for ‘improving’ landlords and agencies. Whether or not they found their way to private or museum collections depended greatly on local contacts, and these varied tremendously throughout Ireland. Nineteenth century antiquarians such as William Wilde, father of Oscar, collected widely from a number of sources. Dealers were, if not unscrupulous, often cavalier with their attributions of provenances, and many collectors were more interested in the mere possession of an attractive weapon or its typology than in the circumstances of discovery. Thus many of the swords in the Wilde collection and others in the National Museum are simply labelled ‘Ireland’ and it is unlikely that any amount of diligent research will shed light on their recovery. The decrease in finds from such activities since the start of the twentieth century must 55 largely be due to increased mechanisation. In recent years metal detectorists have been responsible for finds such as the Class 3 sword and associated decorated bronze bowl from Tamlaght, Co. Antrim (Warner 2006). The find spot was excavated following discovery, a rare example of the context of a sword find being recorded. SWORD USE Few swords have been found in complete, pristine condition. Most have some degree of damage or breaks to the hilt or blade or both. On many swords such as the weapon from Inishmore, Co. Cavan (fig. 4) the hilt has broken off above the shoulders across the rivet holes, or the blade has snapped at its narrowest point (two swords from ‘Ireland’, fig. 1 and Knockadoo, Co. Roscommon, fig. 2). Large numbers of swords also show damage to the extremities, either the point (the sword from Meelick, Co.Roscommon, fig. 3), the shoulders or the terminal. There are a number of potential reasons why this breakage should occur. These can usefully be summarised as through use and wear in prehistory, by deliberate damage or breakage prior to deposition, by corrosion, or by accidental damage after the sword had been placed in the ground, for example by the plough or by the actions of the discoverer. The concern here is with what happened to these swords in prehistory. From ‘birth’ to ‘death’ of a weapon, the possible causes for damage can be summarised as production error, use in conflict, use in practice, use in ritual, deliberate damage prior to deposition, and breaking up for recycling. Production error The successful manufacture of a bronze sword involved a huge amount of skill and experience. Modern casters of replica weapons are acutely aware that it is not until the clay mould is broken open that it becomes possible to know whether or not the whole casting procedure has been successful. There are variables such as the quality of the copper and tin, the quality of the mould materials, and so forth. However, it seems that not all swords that appear imperfect were destined for recycling. Casting flaws such as small holes where air has entered the alloy during cooling are often visible on swords which have all the appearances of being used. This suggests that Ian Colquhoun 56 imperfect weapons were acceptable, presumably depending on the status of the intended owner and, perhaps, whether the flaws could be hidden under the details of the hilt plates, scabbard or chape. Use in Conflict A bronze sword was designed as a weapon intended to kill and maim. A warrior using a sword in combat would have been pitted against one or more adversaries equipped with swords, shields and spearheads. It seems unlikely that a warrior would deliberately wield his sword against the sword of his enemy in the manner of modern sword fighters, as he would be well aware that hitting these weapons would easily damage or weaken his own sword and thus endanger his own life. It is more likely that his aim would be to injure or kill his opponent, and that damage was caused when the opponent’s bronze weapons got in the way. Experimental work with replica swords (Bridgford 1997; Molloy 2004, 2007, and in this volume) has shown that hitting one weapon against another produces the type of edge damage visible on the majority of Irish swords examined to date. This generally takes the form of nicks of varying sizes along the bevelled blade edges, especially at the widest part of the blade. Small nicks are visible on the blade edges of the sword from Keelogue Ford, Co. Galway (fig. 5). Early mediaeval iron swords, with steel edges, were capable, if written sources are to be believed, of slicing through human bone from shoulder to waist (Thompson 2004, 38). B. Molloy’s experiments with replica swords and pig carcasses in a Dublin Food Research Centre (Molloy 2007) could not manage a comparable feat, but the blows did cut well into the bone. In doing so the blade edges were buckled. Damaged bronze spearheads have been found embedded in human skeletons. At West Littleton Down, Tormarton, Gloucestershire, two skeletons were found and excavated in 1968 in advance of a gas pipeline. One had the fragments of two spearheads embedded in the spinal cord and pelvis, while the other had a hole in the pelvis apparently caused by a spearhead. These two young men, aged around nineteen, had been placed without apparent ceremony in a ditch or pit; two further bodies were found in a subsequent excavation in 1999 (Knight, Brown and Grinsell 1972; Osgood 2000, 21 f.). An earlier find from Dorchester on Thames is that of a human skeleton where the pelvis had been pierced by a triangular bladed spearhead which had broken off in situ. Such was the force of the blow that tip had bent (Osgood 1998, 21). Given the amount of damage to these spearheads as the result of human contact, it is likely that at least some of the damage seen on Irish swords is as a result of such contact. Many swords show evidence of repair, especially where the hilt has broken across the rivet holes. New hilts were added, sometimes with strengthening ribs, presumably to help in the casting process and strengthen the repair. As this part of the sword would not be visible, it would not matter that the resulting repair was unsightly, as many were. Such a repair can be seen on the sword from Keelogue Ford, Co.Galway (fig. 5). Use in Practice Whether we view Late Bronze Age swordsmen as aristocratic warriors with time on their hands or as farmers and part time fighters, they would have needed to practise and improve their skills with their swords, spears and shields. To be effective modern combat training is designed to be as realistic as possible, using real weapons, which frequently get damaged, and soldiers do get injured. It follows that at least some of the damage and wear now visible on prehistoric swords is due to repetitive use of the weapons for practice. It is also likely that they would be handled for such training far more frequently than they were used in anger against an adversary. While wooden swords such as the example from Cappagh, Co. Kerry (Waddell 2000, fig. 13.5) may have been used for training as suggested by K. Kristiansen (2002, 325) these replicas would never have been able to replicate the weight and feel of solid bronze. I believe, then, it is feasible to suggest that some training involved the use of real weaponry and it follows that some damage is due to use for practice. Use in ritual and deliberate damage prior to deposition It has already been suggested that swords served many purposes other than their use as killing or maiming weapons. They were, perhaps above all, weapons of prestige and as such would have played a role within the posturing and appearance of the warrior class or stratum of society. The physical use of such weapons would have played a role in ritual, perhaps equivalent to the modern practice of shooting into the air to cele- Irish Swords: Use and Abuse brate or merely displaying skills in front of an audience, perhaps composed of potential allies. A special role may have been played by Class 5 / Gündlingen swords. By comparison with Class 4 swords, these give the impression of being far more decorative and valuable. When they appeared in Ireland they would perhaps have been the most prized of all swords, a type of weapon carried only by those at the top of society and an aspiration to the rest. It is likely that it was due to their prestige that they had such an influence on the design of Class 4 swords. The very possession of such a weapon must have been a symbol of status within society, as it was in early historic times. How valuable a sword would be in the Late Bronze Age and what level of status it suggested to society at large is difficult to gauge as we do not know how many swords were in circulation at any one time and what the population could have been. F. Pryor (2003) looked at the numerous bronze weapons and fragments found during his own excavations at Flag Fen in Cambridgeshire and at another nearby site, Bradley Fen. Taking into account the finds at these two sites over twenty years or so he changed his opinion over the two decades and relegated the modern comparison from being the equivalent of an anti-aircraft missile to that of the essential equipment of every soldier. This comparison is backed up by the observation that Class 4 / Ewart Park swords give the impression, as a group, of being almost utilitarian, without decoration or embellishment. Perhaps they are best described as the equivalent of a modern rifle. Within the Wilde Collection in the National Museum in Dublin there are two Class 4 swords from a hoard found at Knockadoo in Co. Roscommon. The hoard, with two associated spearheads, has been published (Eogan 1983, hoard no. 126). The circumstances of discovery are unknown and it is likely that what remains was part of a larger hoard. One sword is in relatively good condition, with just a few nicks along the edges. The other has been bent and broken, and one edge in particular has suffered quite spectacular damage, with chunks almost gouged out of the edge (fig. 2). In short, it appears that the sword has been deliberately bent and damaged to put it out of use. Another weapon, unfortunately unprovenanced, (Eogan 1965, no. 496) has similar damage along both edges (fig. 1). A sword discovered in the 1980s from Meelick, also Co. Roscommon, has edges which are turned in and appear to have been hit with a blunt object (fig. 3). 57 Most Irish swords have not suffered this treatment. The same is true of most British swords, though examples of bent and damaged swords are not hard to find – for instance in the hoard from Blackmoor in Hampshire (Colquhoun 1979). The fact that swords with significant edge damage also seem to have been bent and broken suggests that this is part of a deliberate procedure. While the bending could be viewed as part of the procedure for breaking the sword for recycling, the excessive, almost frenzied damage to the top of the blade edge, below the ricasso, suggests a procedure planned in advance and carried for a purpose other than the utilitarian procedure of preparation for casting. In short, it suggests that the damage was part of the procedure for ending the life of this particular sword, whether because of its connection with an individual or because of some other role the sword played within the Late Bronze Age psyche. It is rare for organic hilt plates and pommels to survive. A notable exception was a bog find, a Class 2 sword from Lisletrim, Co. Monaghan (Evans 1881, fig. 358; Eogan 1965, no. 29). While the decomposition of organic hilt plates is understandable under many conditions, such as river deposition, it would not seem to be unreasonable to suggest that more should have survived as bog finds. Many swords are found without rivets. It is possible that the hilt plates and pommels were normally removed before deposition, as the hilt plates may have had a part to play in ritual or as an heirloom to be used on another weapon. Hilts would have been a conspicuous and possibly personalised part of the sword. This was certainly the case in Anglo Saxon England; the recently discovered Staffordshire Hoard contained dozens of ornamented hilt and pommel pieces which had been removed from the swords (Leahy 2009). Breaking up for recycling The majority of the Irish swords are, as outlined above, from rivers or bogs. Most are single finds, or there is no recorded evidence to indicate that they were found in association with any other bronzes or artefacts. Few hoards from Ireland appear to have been destined for the melting pot. Hoards composed of fragments of broken bronzes, common in the south east of England, are rare in Ireland, the one major exception being the Co. Roscommon hoard with its lozenge sectioned sword blade fragment (Waddell 2000, 201 fig. 81.1). Because of the circumstances of acquisition, through the activities of a Victorian dealer, Ian Colquhoun 58 its status as an Irish hoard has been questioned (Eogan 1983, 49). CONCLUSIONS The purpose of this paper has been to summarise the recent research into bronze swords in Ireland and to examine some aspects of their discovery and use. Whatever role luck played in the discovery and survival of any particular weapon, the sheer number of swords found, especially those of Class 4, suggests that there must have been plenty of bronze weapons around in the first centuries of the first millennium BC. There are swords yet to be found, and many which have been found and either melted down or disappeared from the public eye. Most swords appear to have suffered edge damage as the result of being used to hit another hard object. These weapons were designed for conflict and their primary use was in a combat role. Each sword may have served many other roles: as an object of desire, as a weapon intimately connected with a memory or ceremony; as a gift; as the booty of war. They were valuable but not that valuable; and when they had served their purpose many, along with spearheads, shields, and other bronzes, were given up to the earth. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are due to staff at the National Museum of Ireland, especially Margaret Lannin, and to Trevor Cowie at the National Museum of Scotland. While opinions expressed are my own, thanks are also due to my tutors at the University of Durham, Marga Diaz-Andreu and Tom Moore, for helping to put some structure into my thoughts. BIBLIOGRAPHY Becker, K. 2008. Left but not Lost. Archaeology Ireland 22 (1), 12–15. Bourke, L. 2001. Crossing the Rubicon. Bronze Age Metalwork from Irish Rivers. Galway, National University of Ireland. Brewis, W. P. 1923. The Bronze Sword in Great Britain. Archaeologia 73, 253–265. Bridgford, S. 1997. An edgewise look at Irish bronze swords. In J. Carmen (ed.) Material Harm: Archaeological Studies of War and Violence, 95–115. Glasgow, Cruithne. Colquhoun, I. A. 1979. The Late Bronze Age Hoard from Blackmoor, Hampshire. In C. Burgess and D. Coombs (eds) Bronze Age Hoards: Some Finds Old and New. 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