New Twist in Europe’s Oldest Battle

Over 3,000 years ago, in Tollense, a river valley that now lies in northern Germany, two large armies clashed in what is now recognized as Europe’s “oldest-known battle”. The clues have been pieced together through the study of dozens of arrowheads, which are helping frame a narrative around the warriors who participated in this battle 3,250 years ago. Some of the arrows recovered from the battlefield were manufactured far away in the southern regions of Central Europe, implying that foreign warriors may have been involved in the battle, potentially as part of an invading force.

The precise motivations behind the conflict remain a mystery, as does the identity of the participants. However, the research published in Antiquity has provided new clues about the combatants, challenging the previously held assumption that the combatants were locals.

Excavations at the battlefield of Tollense. (S. Sauer/Antiquity Publications Ltd)

Tollense Valley: A Scene of Intense Violence

Archaeologist Tobias Inselmann, the lead author of the study, and his colleagues, analyzed 54 bronze and flint arrowheads unearthed at the Tollense Valley archaeological site, located about 80 miles (129 kms) north of Berlin, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Though this location is now a tranquil riverside field, it was the scene of intense violence around 1250 BC.

Archaeologists believe that as many as 2,000 warriors fought on each side, making it the largest known battle in Europe during that period.

“The arrowheads are a kind of the ‘smoking gun’,” says Inselmann in a press release, who collected more than 4700 arrowheads from Central Europe for his M.A. thesis at Göttingen University.

“Just like the murder weapon in a mystery, they give us a clue about the culprit, the fighters of the Tollense Valley battle and where they came from.”

Bronze and flint arrowheads from the Tollense Valley site. (Lief Inselmann/Antiquity Publications Ltd)

Such a large-scale conflict was unexpected, as no other battle from the time has been found in Europe, and researchers had previously assumed that warfare in the Bronze Age was limited to smaller skirmishes. However, the scale of the Tollense battle, suggested by the sheer number of combatants, paints a very different picture.

Estimates of the death toll range from 750 to 1,000, based on extensive excavations that uncovered thousands of human bones from the site. From this mass of remains, archaeologists have identified at least 150 individuals. Most of them were young men, aged between 20 and 40, all young, strong, and able-bodied, though the remains of two women were also found. This suggests that the fighting force was primarily composed of young male warriors, a demographic typical of ancient military engagements, but the presence of women opens up further questions about the nature of the battle and who may have been involved, reports National Geographic.

Excavations have revealed an array of weaponry, including wooden clubs and arrowheads, though no swords have been found. Despite this, several skulls recovered from the battlefield bear cut marks, indicating that swords were indeed used in the fighting. One particularly gruesome find was an arrowhead embedded in a skull, stark evidence of the brutal nature of the conflict. The remains of at least five horses were discovered, suggesting that some of the combatants may have fought on horseback.

One of the foreign type arrowheads. (Lief Inselmann/Antiquity Publications Ltd)

Regional Power Struggles: Warriors from Afar

Since the 1980s, human remains and pieces of ancient weapons—including spearheads, arrowheads, and the blades of bronze knives—had been periodically discovered in the Tollense area. However, it wasn’t until 2011 that researchers conclusively identified the site as an ancient battlefield. The breakthrough came when a member of the excavation team, using a metal detector, uncovered a significant number of bronze arrowheads.

Archaeologist Thomas Terberger, from Georg August University of Göttingen, was part of the team that carried out the initial excavations nearly two decades ago. He recalls that the metal detectorist’s find of a box of bronze arrowheads marked a pivotal moment in realizing the historical significance of the site.

The current research shows some of the arrowheads standing out due to their distinctive shapes, particularly those with “rhombic” bases and barbs. These types of arrowheads are more commonly associated with regions much further south, such as Bavaria in modern-day Germany and Moravia in modern-day Czechia, reports CNN.

These distinctive arrowheads have not been found in local burial sites as grave goods, indicating that they were not obtained through trade or cultural exchange. According to Inselmann, this strengthens the hypothesis that southern warriors brought their own weapons to the battle, rather than local people acquiring them by other means.

The evidence suggesting that southern warriors took part in the battle may indicate that the conflict was not an isolated local skirmish but part of broader regional power struggles. These findings suggest that Bronze Age societies in Europe were more interconnected and potentially more prone to conflict than previously believed.

A Different Picture of Bronze Age Europe

Terberger and other researchers are now examining how such large-scale military engagements might reflect the social and political organization of the time. Evidence from burial sites in other parts of Germany suggests that warriors had already become a distinct social class by this period. The construction of many hillforts during this era may also indicate that societies were becoming more hierarchical and militarized, leading to an increase in warfare.

“The Tollense Valley conflict dates to a time of major changes,” says Inselmann, now at the Freie Universität Berlin. “This raises questions about the organisation of such violent conflicts. Were the Bronze Age warriors organised as a tribal coalition, the retinue or mercenaries of a charismatic leader ‒ a kind of “warlord” ‒, or even the army of an early kingdom?”

Before the discovery of the Tollense battlefield, many scholars assumed that the Bronze Age was relatively peaceful, with trade playing a central role in cultural development. However, the findings at Tollense paint a different picture, showing that large-scale violent conflicts were an integral part of Bronze Age life.

According to Terberger, these conflicts were likely driven by the significant cultural transformations occurring across Europe at the time. He points to the rise of the Urnfield Culture, which dominated much of Central Europe during this period and may have been the origin of some of the foreign warriors involved in the battle. The Urnfield Culture, which emerged in the 13th century BC, was marked by substantial political and religious changes, and the societal transitions of the time were likely more violent than previously assumed.

While the exact causes of this increase in warfare remain unclear, the period coincides with the so-called “Late Bronze Age Collapse,” a time when many Mediterranean empires fell apart due to a combination of factors such as climate change, disease, and social unrest. Similar pressures may have affected parts of Central and Northern Europe, leading to an escalation of violence.

As Molloy notes, this period also saw the emergence of new military technologies that likely contributed to the ability of armies to fight on such a large scale. The findings at Tollense, combined with evidence from other sites, suggest that the Bronze Age was not only a time of cultural and technological advancement but also one marked by widespread and organized warfare.

Top image: Skull segment with a bronze arrowhead embedded in it from the Tollense battlefield, Germany.                Source: Volker Minkus/Antiquity Publications Ltd

By Sahir Pandey