The war as seen by an archaeologist. Reconstruction of barbarian ...

Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies 16 2008 121
limited these possibilities.
In the grave assemblages from the Roman Period the
elements of riding equipment were often accompanied by
swords 103 ; this is particularly visible in phase C 1 when
the swords were long, designed for slashing and suited to
horseback combat. Any attempt at establishing the way
they were used in combat must be preceded by the analysis
in the frequency changes of the appearance of that kind of
weapon in burials (Diagram 11). In phase B 1 the frequency
was high, later on it decreased to reach its minimum in
phase B 2b . From then on there was a gradual increase until
phases C 2 -D. The observed variability is connected with the
stylistic changes of sword forms. For that reason the division
into one-edged and two-edged swords was taken into
account. One-edged swords, most often used as universal,
handy stabbing/slashing weapons 104 appeared rarely in
grave assemblages of the Przeworsk Culture starting from
the Late Pre-Roman Period 105 but they became clearly more
predominant in the Early Roman Period. The frequencies
presented in Diagram 11 indicate that one-edged swords
were a significant element of grave goods in phases B 1 and
B 2a . Later on, although present until phase B 2b , one-edged
swords appeared but sporadically 106 . The above remarks
generally support the previous findings 107 .
Two-edged swords were very important as part of grave
assemblages in the Younger and Late Pre-Roman Period
although their frequency tended to decline 108 ; it was continued
in the Early Roman Period and the lowest ebb in the
appearance of two-edged swords in burials took place in
phase B 2a . Later on their presence gradually increased and
their level became fixed at more than 15% of all weapon
graves in the following chronological periods. There was an
increase in phases C 2 -D 109 .
Two-edged swords underwent significant changes in
form (see Fig. 9-11): in the Late Pre-Roman Period they
were similar to the La Tène forms i. e. long swords often
with blunt points, designed for slashing 110 ; in the Early
Roman Period besides the residue late La Tène forms
and longer swords with narrow blades of type I after M.
Biborski 111 designed mainly for thrusting 112 , there appeared
short swords similar to the Roman gladius (the last-mentioned
ones generally from phase B 2b ), meant for stabbing
and also, to a smaller degree, for slashing. At the end of
the Early Roman Period there began to appear longer twoedged
swords similar to the Roman spatha which clearly
dominated in the later periods and were basically used for
cutting (except for the rapier-like forms type X and some
variants of type IX and XI serving equally for stabbing) 113 .
The diversity of two-edged sword forms is partly reflected
in the differences of frequency apparent in Diagram 11. The
decrease in the popularity of two-edged late La Tène forms
was connected with the considerable disappearance of twoedged
swords in general from burial assemblages; in phases
B 1 and B 2a their position was taken over by single-edged
swords 114 . The domination of two-edged swords in phase
B 2b should be linked with the more widespread use of short
double-edged swords and the domination of double-edged
swords of long spatha type in grave assemblages of the
Younger and Late Roman Period.
Although swords could be used in horseback combat
(especially in the Younger and Late Roman Period), they
were most probably used mainly in foot combat. This is suggested
by, the Roman iconographic sources. The column of
Marcus Aurelius 115 bears representations of Germanic warriors
using swords in foot combat (scenes XV, XX, XXIX,
XLIII, CIX) as well as a rider in a military context equipped
with a sword as the only element of offensive equipment
(scene XXVIII) 116 .
Similar conclusions are indicated by the Scandinavian
bog finds from Illerup Place A and Ejsbøl Nord where a
large number of long swords were discovered, yet only
most spectacular group of them (with particularly ornamental
hilts) could be linked with the few elements of riding
equipment. This allows to assume that a large proportion of
warriors using swords fought on foot 117 .
An important element of the defensive, but also offensive,
military equipment was the shield. On the basis of
the collected material from the Late Pre-Roman Period
and the Roman Period it is possible to observe the following
changes in the frequencies of burials with metal shield
fittings 118 (Diagram 12): in phase A 1 the proportion of analysed
sets was considerably large in comparison with phase
A 2 . This difference, however, may be only apparent due to
the small statistical sample for phase A 1 119 . From the end of
the Late Pre-Roman Period (phase A 3 120 ) the shields with
metal fittings gained in importance and until the end of the
Early Roman Period they appeared in similar frequencies
(slightly more than every second weapon grave contained
metal shield fittings). There was a relatively higher (in
contrast to the preceding and following phases) frequency
of shield fittings in phase B 2a . It seems that this increase is
a result of the above discussed limitations resulting from a
large number of burials dated generally to phase B 2 . Due
to the potentially significant ‘influence’ of these burials
on the results for phase B 2a it can not be assumed that this
‘oscillation’ reflects reality. A considerable increase can