Medieval Swordplay & Battlefield Archaeology
Arms and the Man
From Science - 3 June 2005 pg. 1406
Edited by Constance Holden

Swinging swords around for hours on end left its mark on the bones of Medieval soldiers.In fact,their right
arms resemble those of baseball pitchers,according to researchers at the University of Bradford in the U.K.
Forceful, repetitive movements make bones bend and thicken in response to the stress. So anthropologists
Jill Rhodes and Christopher Knusel reasoned that Medieval swordplay should have produced skeletal
distortions.They looked at the excavated skeletons of 10 men who had died of sword wounds between the
10th and 16th centuries.The right arms showed changes in shape and thickness similar to those found in
professional baseball pitchers, Knusel says.“Swinging a sword is very, very similar [to pitching]. It’s an overhead
type of motion,”he says.The changes weren’t seen in nine uninjured male skeletons in the same York
cemetery, they reported in last month’s American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
The authors also reported on 13 skeletons buried in a mass grave after the Battle of Towton in 1461.
These men showed different changes:Their left arms were bent and thickened. Knusel says the skeletons
may be the bones of archers who held their powerful longbows with their left arms.
Kelly DeVries,a specialist in Medieval military history at Loyola College in Baltimore,Maryland,says this
technique should be useful in the emerging study of battlefield archaeology. It could help sort out the
archers from the swordsmen, or knights from the casual soldier he says.
This is very interesting. That just shows how long and hard Medieval solders trained.
Nice to know someone is applying their common sense to these questions. Maybe someday they will excavate the future graves of Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg and conclude that we still used swords for warfare in the 20th Century.

Here's a link to the article: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary...06a?ck=nck
I wonder if the stress was actually from swinging a sword? Still cool information though.
I know I sound like a skipping CD sometimes, but I'll take this opportunity to recommend getting Blood Red Roses. Scroll down this page, read the review and click on the title to go directly to the appropriate Amazon page:

http://www.myArmoury.com/feature_books_team.html

It's an outstanding resource, with detailed forensic data.
One of the interesting things about the new findings is that they suggest not continuous warfare, but continuous training. The left arms of the longbowmen were so dramatically altered because they trained with the weapon from the earliest possible age. I would assume that the same is true of the the right-arm changes seen in the current research. So, this could be forensic evidence of orderly, sophisticated training in Western swordsmanship. That may not add much to what we already knew from artistic and literary sources, but it's always good to have science on your side....
Steve Fabert wrote:
Nice to know someone is applying their common sense to these questions. Maybe someday they will excavate the future graves of Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg and conclude that we still used swords for warfare in the 20th Century.

Here's a link to the article: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary...06a?ck=nck

The mention of Rod Laver brings up an interesting point (to me, anyway). I remember seeing Laver in his prime on TV and in magazines. His racquet arm looked like it belonged to Popeye the Sailor, with mammoth forearm muscles. His other arm looked "normal". So, he definitely displayed assymetrical physical development, at least in his musculature, that seems similar to what the anthropologists have observed in these medieval graves. The thing that I recall about Laver is that he was left-handed, I think. So, I wonder how much an oversized left arm on a skeleton might throw off the anthropologists. Moot point, I suppose, since, back in the day, I expect that any child with a left-hand bias would have been broken of that tendency at a very young age.
Sean Flynt wrote:
One of the interesting things about the new findings is that they suggest not continuous warfare, but continuous training. The left arms of the longbowmen were so dramatically altered because they trained with the weapon from the earliest possible age. I would assume that the same is true of the the right-arm changes seen in the current research. So, this could be forensic evidence of orderly, sophisticated training in Western swordsmanship. That may not add much to what we already knew from artistic and literary sources, but it's always good to have science on your side....


Sean;

I have also read though (and I thought it was in Blood Red Roses, but I don't have the book in front of me) that one of the unusual aspects of longbowmen is that they actually DIDN'T have a significant right/left bias to their skeletal structure, due to the fact that in order to properly draw a Longbow, you have to use both arms, as well as your chest muscles. It sort of goes contrary to the enlarged left forearm, and I recall in the Mary Rose forensics the archaeologists discussed how one fellow they assumed to be an archer had a displaced vertebra, kinked as it were from the stress of drawing a heavy bow.

Anyway, I'd love to see why there are these conflicting views, and which one actually holds water.

Cheers,

Gordon
I double-checked, and you're right, with some slight exceptions.
Starting on page 108 there's a nifty entry called "To lay my body in my bow": The Physical Consequences of Archery. According to the conclusion, "The left arm (bow arm of the right-handed archer) seems to posses hypertrophy of the elbow; whereas, the right humerus (the draw arm) demonstrates hypertrophy of the shoulder"
So, it seems that the exercise did cause some change, just not as asymmetrically or profoundly as I thought. Cool stuff....


Last edited by Sean Flynt on Sat 11 Jun, 2005 1:48 pm; edited 1 time in total
Thanks Sean, nifty stuff! I recall way back when, in an old National Geographic from around 1980 or so when Wolstenholme Town was excavated, that they did a forensic reconstruction of the skeleton found there, and by the over-development of his right arm concluded that he was a professional swordsman, and therefore probably the Lieutenant of the settlement who was known to have been killed there at that time. Boy, the wounds on his skull were ugly though...

Cheers,

Gordon
Qustion about sword play
I Got a big question about sword play

i will try to explain this as best i can
this question mainly pretends to a swing after death
can one sword holder who just took a massive death blow to the gut or chest be able to if still swinging his sword kill his Enemy? in any why shape or Form or will his sword basically fall from his hands because he just got to week from the mortal wound ?
Gordon Frye wrote:
I have also read though (and I thought it was in Blood Red Roses, but I don't have the book in front of me) that one of the unusual aspects of longbowmen is that they actually DIDN'T have a significant right/left bias to their skeletal structure, due to the fact that in order to properly draw a Longbow, you have to use both arms, as well as your chest muscles. It sort of goes contrary to the enlarged left forearm, and I recall in the Mary Rose forensics the archaeologists discussed how one fellow they assumed to be an archer had a displaced vertebra, kinked as it were from the stress of drawing a heavy bow.


I hope the picture below is clarifying. The bow is about 120lb and being draw 32". The force on the bow arm is purely compressive and puts particular stress on the elbow and wrist (both of which are being held at a slight angle, not locked). The drawing arm is partially under compression (the upper half) and partially under tension (lower half) and is also under a turning moment at the shoulder due to the way the bow is pulled (that is, the bow is trying to pull the right arm forward and round). Good technique tries to limit this moment by putting the drawing arm inline with the body. Also from the photo you can see quite clearly the curvature of the spine as the archer 'lays his body into the bow'. This movement puts the weight of the bow onto the strong lateral back muscles.

It is easy to understand how performing this action many thousands of times throughout an archer's life and, in particular, during his formative years would lead to distortions in the skeleton.

However, although those distortions would be significant when measured it is unlikely that they would be visible to the naked eye. That is, you wouldn't see an archer with a bulging left arm and hunched right shoulder.

Bodies do tend to change shape if an activity is pursued over many decades: On a personal note, I've been training with weights since around 1984 and if I look at my back at a 3/4 angle in a mirror there is a great deal of a V shape going from shoulders to waist. Most untrained people viewed at this angle just look like a vertical up and down from armpit to waist.

Now the effect is sort of spoiled by being overweigh and I don't look so great from other angles. ;) :lol:

With archery using heavy bows for decades there should be a difference if both sides of the body are compared in arms and shoulders since the exercise is asymmetrical, but both arms/shoulders would show the effects of years of stress and effort.

This is an old Topic thread so I'm certainly repeating some things that where said before, just summarizing and hopefully adding a little something different.
Re: Qustion about sword play
Ryan Bogdanich wrote:
I Got a big question about sword play

i will try to explain this as best i can
this question mainly pretends to a swing after death
can one sword holder who just took a massive death blow to the gut or chest be able to if still swinging his sword kill his Enemy? in any why shape or Form or will his sword basically fall from his hands because he just got to week from the mortal wound ?


Depends on what was cut: If the muscles are still capable of doing the movement and if the nervous system is still in control/contact with the muscles involved ?

Also, was the motion already initiated before the wound was received ? Then there are the effects of shock both psychological and physiological that can vary greatly with personality, adrenaline, strength of motivation to continue fighting and take one's killer with them to the other side !

So the answer would be " MAYBE ". :eek:


Last edited by Jean Thibodeau on Tue 19 Feb, 2008 10:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
Re: Qustion about sword play
Ryan Bogdanich wrote:
I Got a big question about sword play

i will try to explain this as best i can
this question mainly pretends to a swing after death
can one sword holder who just took a massive death blow to the gut or chest be able to if still swinging his sword kill his Enemy? in any why shape or Form or will his sword basically fall from his hands because he just got to week from the mortal wound ?


Hello,

The short answer is that without massive central nervous system damage the body will continue to function for a surprisingly long time. In the study of medieval fighting technique we consistently find that the end position of an attack also serves to protect against a counter-attack. A fighter must be prepared for the possibility that any attack no matter how lethal it might seem won't stop the fight immediately - and sometimes even minor wounds stop the fight, the other enormous factor is the person being hit :lol:.

Better to be safe than sorry, though.

-Steven
As others have said, it depends......

Here is a link to a nice article on the subject, that uses modern medicine and forensic science, along with historical accounts.

http://www.classicalfencing.com/articles/bloody.php

The Dubious Quick Kill, part 1 Sword wounds and the circulatory system
by Maestro Frank Lurz

Make sure you read part 2 as well.
Re: Qustion about sword play
Ryan Bogdanich wrote:
I Got a big question about sword play

i will try to explain this as best i can
this question mainly pretends to a swing after death
can one sword holder who just took a massive death blow to the gut or chest be able to if still swinging his sword kill his Enemy? in any why shape or Form or will his sword basically fall from his hands because he just got to week from the mortal wound ?


Usually even a massive blow to the chest or the guts does not kill instantly-even if a massive blow shatters the thorax and the heart you will stay concious for another 5-10sec-more then enough time to end the blow.
As the nerves that transport the information "pain" to the brain need some time you should have enough time to end the hit-not as hard and not as aimed as unwounded.

If you ger a massive blow to the head the brain should "switch off" immediatly so you are out of combat the very instant.

If the wound is not deadly in a combat you are so full of adrenaline and endorphines you won´t realize instantly the damage/pain.
Re: Qustion about sword play
Peter G. wrote:


If the wound is not deadly in a combat you are so full of adrenaline and endorphines you won´t realize instantly the damage/pain.


Dropped a 44 pound Olympic plate on my shin bone last week scrapping the skin for a good 2 inches and I didn't feel it much being very endorphins saturated at the time. ;) :lol: If there was someone to blame apart from myself and I was holding a sword ( in period ) I probably could have hit them HARD before I even started to feel anything.

Oh, reacting to pain with anger and a curse seems to lessen it's effects a lot ! ( At least it did this time ).

Anger also seems to neutralize fear as well as pain: I guess because the brain has trouble processing more than one strong emotion at a time.
it is important to keep in mind that people are rarely perfectly asymmetrical and genetics play a large part in how our bodies develop. I'm played contact sports (rugby, judo, kickboxing, and BJJ) and done weight training for years now and have a fairly well developed body (ego trip here :p ). However the right side of my body is considerably thicker and stronger where as my left side looks more lean and athletic. I have a fairly pronounced V-taper (46" chest 33" waist) and my back looks quite strange as my right lat connects about 1-2" lower on my torso than the left side. While this would make it appear that I train my right side more heavily the reality is that my training is quite balanced and most of the men in my family have this muscle imbalance.

That's not to say that the findings of this study are wrong in any way, it's just that it is quite normal for people to show more development on one side than the other.
Re: Qustion about sword play
Jean Thibodeau wrote:
Peter G. wrote:


If the wound is not deadly in a combat you are so full of adrenaline and endorphines you won´t realize instantly the damage/pain.


Dropped a 44 pound Olympic plate on my shin bone last week scrapping the skin for a good 2 inches and I didn't feel it much being very endorphins saturated at the time. ;) :lol: If there was someone to blame apart from myself and I was holding a sword ( in period ) I probably could have hit them HARD before I even started to feel anything.

Oh, reacting to pain with anger and a curse seems to lessen it's effects a lot ! ( At least it did this time ).

Anger also seems to neutralize fear as well as pain: I guess because the brain has trouble processing more than one strong emotion at a time.


when you get angry your brain generally pumps your body full of adrenaline and endorphins so naturally you will feel far less pain as well as becoming a lot more aggressive and able to focus your strength.

I can give testimony that adrenaline during a fight can do a lot to numb the pain. As I mentioned before I have played a lot of contact sports and as a result have suffered numerous injuries. In kickboxing I suffered a broken wrist after landing a glancing left hook. I heard the crack/click at the time but couldn't feel any pain so I kept punching with the same hand for a few more rounds. It wasn't until much later that the pain set in and I was forced to go to a doctor. I lost 70% of the movement in my left hand as a result until I had a corrective operation 6 months later. Now my hand is back to near 100%

Another time during judo training one of my seniors stomped my foot during a throw. I thought nothing of it at the time but at the end of the sparring session my captain came over and pointed out that my toe was flopping off my foot at a 90 degrees angle :D again there was little pain so I just got some tape and strapped it against my foot/other toes and kept on training. Of course later on it was very painful but I didn't take any time off training until I re-broke it two more times and I decided to take a two week break. As stupid as I may sound at the time I was competing at state level in Japan and basically the mentality was to compete first and worry about injuries in the off-season.

another example of that was right before a regional championship. I suffered yet another another small bone crack (this time one of the small bones in my right hand) as well as a partially dislocated thumb resulting from a accident involving a my hand getting wrapped up in the gi of a 300lb judoka while we were falling to the ground and being twisted into a fairly uncomfortable position. For the two weeks leading up the competition I could barely grip at all but once my match actually started and the adrenalin was pumping I completely forgot about my hand. Of course I did lose in the first round but it was on account of my opponent being much better as opposed than me feeling my injuries :cool:

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