When we hear about ancient or primitive cultures and how they survived and even hunted, I think there could be a tendency to assume they did so with inferior weapons.

That couldn’t be further from the truth, according to these scientists who recreated some just to prove the point.

Bronze Age weapons were made from a copper-tin alloy (bronze, duh), which is what researchers used to recreate them in a laboratory setting. Then they spent some time stabbing, slicing, thrusting, etc with the replicas to prove just how deadly they might have been.

Two studies were recently published that highlight these findings, and the researchers say there is no doubt these weapons weren’t just ceremonial, as some archaeologists had argued. To get to these results, the first group of researchers studied the wear patterns on 47 ancient swords before creating four bronze replicas to fight with (and use on a pig carcass).

The damage seen on the blades indicated they were likely used in battle, and were capable of inflicting mortal wounds.

“Stabbing strikes left indentations on ribs, with some blades piercing through to the bone. Draw-cuts proved to be the most effective, causing significant soft tissue injuries leading to opponent weakening, bleeding out, and eventual death.”

A second team replicated Bronze Age spears from the Netherlands, and found that while assaulting the carcass of a roe deer, they came to the same conclusions.

“Wounding experiments showed the offensive potential of these weapons which were apt to inflict lethal wounds, commonly associated with ‘warfare’ or ‘fight for life’ situations. The spears were capable to shattering…bones, which suggests many ancient injuries attributed to blunt force trauma could have been caused by spears.”

That said, they could have been used to ceremonial combat as well, since they could also inflict “non-lethal bleeding wounds.”

I’m not sure what the argument was for these weapons being merely ceremonial.

I think it’s clear that, even in the distant past, humans have always had to fight for their right to exist and evolve.

If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.