This paper is the first attempt to summarize the state of research into the armament of the Bogaczewo and Sudovian cultures. Swords ended up with a higher than expected position. While shaft-hole axes and socketed axes played an important part, the military role of the so-called ‘fighting knives’ of the Roman period was rejected, with the exception of Dolchmesser, which were recognized as true weapons. Polearms and shields were used the most frequently. The latter, although fitting into the Central European pattern, had local traits. The bow was recognized as hunting equipment. And horses had a rather auxiliary character. Items with a Balt character that were discovered, for example, at Vimose Bog 1 and 2a and the sacrificial sites at Balsmyr, Sorte Muld, Kragehul, Skedemosse, and Uppåkra seem to prove that Balts participated in Scandinavian conflicts, which led to an exchange of ideas about such things as tactics and weapons....
The paper deals with the problem of swords in the West Balt circle. It has been stated that they lack here almost entirely,
with the exception for several swords known. The author opposes such idea, showing new materials proving the usage
of swords in the Balt cultural milieu, specifically swords from bog sacrificial sites (Wólka, Czaszkowo) and elements of
swords’ scabbards, fittings of baldric belts aimed to hang the scabbard, or sword’s handle fitting discovered in graves
without swords themselves. That phenomenon is observed both in the Roman (the Bogaczewo culture and Dollkeim-
Kovrovo culture) and Migration Period (the Olsztyn group). It seems to prove that Balts frequently avoided placement
of swords in graves what could be expressed by the value of swords (see long usage of broken and then sharpened
swords) or ritual matters/beliefs (e.g. pars-pro-toto principle or taboo)....
Kontny, Bartosz(Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytet Warszawski, Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie, Fundacja Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica, 2017)
The article presents the phenomenon of affiliating the foraging groups (Danites, Idumaeans) to the virtual Israel, by the Jewish elites (Biblical authors, Josephus Flavius), as well as excluding others from it (in Ezra and Deut. 7:1-8). These processes are discussed in the light of pragmatic actions undertaken by the Judean elites. The conclusions drawn from the presentation point to the fact that religious aspects–present in the inclusion and exclusion accounts–are used merely superficially, because the real reasons based on political calculations. The article highlights also the hypothesis, according to which the discussed phenomenon of readiness to exclude and include certain groups from and in Israel proves to the lack of fixed, and unchangeable limits of such group as Israel. The
very sense of Israel, and its limits, was treated dynamically, and was subject to changes, depending to the political circumstances....