Ergonomics of a Bronze Age Sword Grip Examining a 3.300-year-old bronze sword Dear fellow sword enthusiasts, military history aficionados, and archaeologists, Avid readers of my newsletter will have noticed that I have recently shifted my focus to Bronze Age swords. As part of my ongoing work on a book about sword hilt ergonomics, I wanted to take a closer look at swords from this era. Many modern observers are puzzled by the small size of Bronze Age sword grips, to the point where some...
13 days ago • 1 min read
Drawing by Numbers: Designing a Sword Peter Johnsson when I first met him in the Sankt Annen Museum in Lübeck in 2012 Dear fellow sword enthusiasts, archaeologists, and historical martial artists, Last week, I shared the story of the rediscovery of a sword from a Late Slavic burial (here is my extensive post). Since then, a discussion between researchers Jan H. Orkiz and Peter Johnsson has yielded fascinating insights into the design of this weapon. I hope you consider these findings both...
20 days ago • 2 min read
Fencing in Autumn & Unboxing a Medieval Sword Mikkel Mønsted and Emil O'Gara will teach classes at Ribe Dear fellow sword enthusiasts, archaeologists, and historical martial artists, Autumn has arrived, which means the Ribe Bouts and the Berlin Buckler Bouts are just around the corner. Details on how to join are below. Also in today’s newsletter: the rediscovery and documentation of a mighty sword from a Late Slavic burial in the Prignitz district of Brandenburg. I hope you find it an...
27 days ago • 2 min read
More Bronze Age Battling The Tollense Valley is a 3-hours drive from where I live Dear fellow martial artists and archaeology enthusiasts, In a recent newsletter, I told you about the 3,300-year-old bronze sword from the Tollense Valley, the site of a large-scale violent conflict that took place in the Late Bronze Age. Now, an extensive TV documentary tells the story of the discovery, excavations, and research results of what some archaeologists consider the world’s oldest known battlefield....
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
A Historical Fencing Master and AI? Ridolfo Capo Ferro da Cagli in 1610 Hello fellow sword enthusiasts, researchers, and history aficionados, I know the title of this newsletter might read like clickbait—what on earth is the connection between the Italian late Renaissance fencing master Ridolfo Capo Ferro and Artificial Intelligence? Dr. Marc Heimann, philosopher and swordsman, offers an intriguing approach to understanding AI in his recent paper, which I’ve linked below. But first, let me...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Busy Days with Lots of Shields Cornelius checking the length of a guige strap Hello fellow sword and shield enthusiasts, Cornelius Berthold spent a few days at my place, during which he completed four training shields, each featuring a different set of hand straps, known as enarmes, along with a neck strap, or guige. One of four training shields completed recently The various strap arrangements are based on medieval miniatures—marginal manuscript illustrations—rather than surviving examples....
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
New Academic Paper on the Artwork in Europe’s Oldest Combat Treatise A simple animation to make a point! Hello medievalists and sword-and-buckler fighters, A new open-access paper relevant to the study of medieval swordsmanship has just been released. In their article, my fellow instructors and researchers, Cornelius Berthold and Ingo Petri, present our hypotheses on how to interpret perspective in MS I.33’s illustrations, based on a lecture they delivered at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. In...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Death in the Tollense River Valley Excavated human remains, more than 3000 years old Dear history enthusiasts and sword fighters, Last week we looked back to the Paleolithic, a time before swords were even invented. Today we will turn our attention to the oldest archaeologically confirmed large-scale armed confrontation when bronze swords were already in use. If ever you wondered why Bronze Age swords have conspicuously short hilts, and how they could possibly be gripped and held efficiently,...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Stones, Spears, Swords Arttu Peltoniemi dancing on a dugout Dear history enthusiasts and sword fighters, In this edition of the Dimicator Newsletter, we take a look back into prehistoric epochs before the invention of the sword. I present to you an additional element of my illustration of reindeer hunters in the Palaeolithic, shortly after the end of the last Ice Age. I would also like to introduce you to the experimental dances of Arttu Peltoniemi, which offer an unusual and highly sensual...
2 months ago • 2 min read