Warfare in LH IIIA–C

This volume interrogates the nature of warfare in the Aegean world during the Bronze Age, reviews the essential forms of evidence, considers the social and cultural place of war, and revisits some longstanding questions. As is clear from the contributions, ideologies of warfare and warriors were deeply ingrained in prehistoric Aegean societal structures. In this paper, we broadly explore the developments of combat practice and warfare in the LH period. As is clear we set out in our discussion, the social status and character of warriors – individuals specially skilled in the conduct of violence using purpose-made material culture and sanctioned to kill by social leaders – appears to have changed substantially between 1500 and 1100. Important developments such as the construction of citadels indicate that this was a period of significant military changes. This development can be traced using a combination of the sources discussed in more detail in other sections of this book. The character of LH III warfare varied notably between the various parts of the Aegean, so our overview must remain broad in order to trace larger cultural and military trends.