Hi, you may find this interesting to note. The rock art depicted in the video with the canoes and a few figures are most likely what you would observe just before sunrise at the beginning of spring or summer. Or perhaps being raiders the boat in the heavens just after Scorpio, unless they looked at the Virgo constelations as it is a long horizontal group of stars. The iconography of a warrior in the western zodiac is Libra. Thanks for sharing, great video. Take care👍😊
Thanks. Instead of bc. I like to use the astrological ages, in the great platonic year. 2000 bc Would be the beginning of the Age of Aries (Rome). 4000 bc Would be the beginning of the Age of Taurus (and domestic cows). 6000 bc being the Age of Gemini (twins prominent in mythology). Age of Cancer ♋ (and boat cults). 8000 bc the Age of Leo ♌ 10k bc Age of Virgo ♍ 12k bc Age of Libra ♎ 14k bc Age of Sagittarius ♐ (and hunter-gatherers).
I read from somewhere that the Persians sent scouts to Thermopylae Pass to check what the Spartan warriors were up to. The scout returned and reported very confused "they are doing gymnastics and combing their hair and behave completely as if there was no massive enemy preparing to attack".
@@Oddyseouss2077 Yes this was definitely iron age but I was thinking maybe Spartans had inherited this tradition from those bronze age ancestor warriors.
A fun fact about the graves from Borum Eshøj, shown in the video. One of the dead were burried with a small bronze dagger in a much larger sheath. It is belived that he would have owned the maching sword in life, but it must have been too valuable to give him it in death.
The quality of Dan's content is astounding. I've always been interested in the bronze age, but it's such a remote period in human history that we know very little of the bronze age peoples that inhabited Europe aside from what they left buried in the earth. Dan's thorough presentation of the archeological record, beautiful illustrations, and his talent as an author bring these people and their societies to life in a way that I've never experienced! Amazing work Dan
Well. If your an elite mail. I have no idea how the post got involved. I never got the postman to bring me a razor. Ohh maile? Ha. It’s not mithril but thanks. He knows that alpha beta hypothesis has been debunked by dude who came up with it. Whatever.
i suppose it is surprising to most, but when you consider HOW much the Vikings spent time on hair, and looks, and grooming (including especially care of their hair) to the point that other peoples of the time commented on their constant bathing and combing... i think this is something that comes up over and over in cultures... always interesting to hear/see your videos!
Lmfao vikings clean? 😂😂 They literally used to use the same bath water for a whole family and not even change it. Spit in it sneeze in it and re use. In fact they were notorious for their bad hygiene lol don't know what fantasy you're talking about
Ya and at some points in time belief in looking your best/healthiest declines such time periods and when apparently morbid obesity was considered attractive
hygiene is important and many old societys knew that. especially when you sailed together for weeks or months its important to be as clean as possible or else youre pretty much askign to get sick.
Another important factor in the wealth of elite burials is gift exchange. Such exchange could be from the chief or lord to his retinue, within the clan to reinforce bonds such as marriage, with the links reinforced by gifts, or as part of diplomacy between the leaders of different clans. Warriors might gravitate to a particular chief or lord based on the probability of being gifted with such high status items as pins, brooches and, of course, weapons.
Marrying off daughters creates stability. So, yes. I think they also sent their men out at a certain age, to get familiar with a people to establish protection for trade routes.
It's not unique to Sikhism as a religion, if u see any old Indian king statues or paintings, you'll see all of them had long hair tied upwards. U can even see Chinese nobles of past have long hair.
The exquisite craftsmanship of these everyday items, especially the grooming items, says a great deal about this group of people and their relationship with their world. Such a wonderful video. Thank you..
My read of the combs and grooming tools in these burials was always that, yes, they honored and valued their warriors...but their mothers/wives/aunts/sisters/daughters weren't gonna let them go out there without looking pretty.
Remember that a warrior taking care of his beard or hair isn't just a status thing, but a military necessity, you don't want to have your sweaty hair in your eyes during battle
perhaps that is how it started - not wanting hair in your eyes, a beard that can be yanked, hair under your helmet etc and then, given that a warrior has a lot more spare time than a farmer and that precision and perfection in martial arts are important, all joined into personal vanity...
And your looks can affect your opponents. As a youth… I had an extreme pretty boy look and dress… It made my opponents super over confident and profoundly worked to my advantage continuously. They were just oh so certain I was nothing of concern, yet they wanted to rob, harm, or punk me… or others I cared about or who I was paid to protect. All I had to do at the beginning of the combat was to agree with their expectations. I acted extra weak at the moment of combat… Fascinating to watch my opponents face, the over confidence was astonishing… seconds later… they were drenched in fear, horror and dumbfoundedness plus at times pain as well but not always. Now as an older adult I look more scary, and am bigger, much bigger. The look now repels most trouble all the time. Looks profoundly matter most of the time.
Superbly researched. It made me smile when you said "Gold cups fit for a king". George V used the Rillaton early Bronze Age cup as a shaving mug before it was 'rediscovered'...which sort of fits the sponsor of the video too.
This was without doubt one of the best videos I've ever seen. It was exactly the same as reading one of those books that throws open dozens of doors in the mind, for you to enter and explore. Thank you so much. As always with your videos, it drew together and made coherent sense of many loose ends for me. I've just watched it three times! Wow!
This was fantastic. I hope you keep it up in the production of these sorts of videos which recall to us the ways of our ancestors. I dream of the beautiful warriors every day, and I see them in the faces of the kin of my tribe every day.
Babe, wake up! New bronze age Dan Davis just dropped And that during the release of Kings and Generals' 2 hour extremely comprehensive video on the history of what we now refer to as celtic.. What a day! After setting a bit of the scene, let us get transported like no one else can have us to the deep, mystic past (may I request or suggest to some day bring us to the bronze age Low Countries, I've recently read about the "Nordwestblock", a non-celtic, non-germanic Indo-European culture. It seemed that this region is where the Hilversum culture and the Nordic Bronze Age culture, and where some old survived. The archaeological finds are many over there, and I'd like to hear you put it in the wider european context)
Lower jaw structures and teeth changed with the introduction of the fork. Overbite became the norm whereas previously upper front teeth met lower front teeth.
@@adrianlouw2499 they have worse overbite. The biting and tearing of meat straight off a dagger (or in the case of stone age man, off the bone) makes the bottom and top front teeth align. Asians precut the meat into pieces that can be picked up with chop sticks. Hence the WW2 racial stereotype of Japanese soldiers having buck teeth.
Displaying good health and vitality is something you see all the time in nature and the Human animal is no different. Presenting our best selves to potential rivals and mates is timeless.
Tattoos in some cultures served medicinal purpose. Either tattooing some herb into the diseased or injured part of the body. Or magic talismans, to effect healing.
It did not work, though - they all miserably died, probably in waves of epidemic. What I want to see is a video: "Sink investments of Bronze Age warriors or the danger of preening: how the Bronze Age collapsed." Overall, there is a greater problem here how in human civilizations any surplus leads to "more of the same" instead working for a sustainable future.
a few hundred yrs later tattoos and other permanent stigmata in historical european societies were pretty much limited to certain groups of people (continued to be associated with one of these groups until very recently....well, still is but not solely anylonger.....) such awls must have served an every day purpose and if they aren't tools connected to some unknown common work routine, then they are most likely hygiene utensiles - small iron age toilet sets usually consisted of tweezers, often earspoons or nailscrapers, regularly little "awls" (toothpicks)
I had a thought while watching this. Since these items of hygiene are often associated with weapons, could they possibly be part of a first aid or personal surgical kit? For a warrior a first aid kit would be essential equipment.
I recall the passage from Tacitus' Germania you mentioned that referred to the rite of being unkempt until the slaying of one's tribe's enemy. I belive he was speaking of the Chatti who lived in whats now modern Hesse/Saxony. Thank you tremendously for preserving the lesser known periods of history!
Dont take Germania at face value its largely second hand or third hand sources combined with his own conjecture. Also fun fact it was one of Heinrich Himmlers favourite books.
Your channel is the best recommendation RUclips gave me ever. I never even thought much about this ancient history and now I'm determined to learn everything about it
The more I learn about different cultures, the more commonalities I see. Cultures separated by time and space still place much emphasis on the same things, like grooming, spiritual health, and a desire to be remembered. Just reinforces the fact that some desires are truly universal for us humans.
Grooming is a universal animal trait. Even flies and cockroaches groom themselves. That's what they're doing when you see them wiping their legs together or wiping their arms over their antenna.
Grooming in particular is shared by almost all living creatures. There are some things that are just natural for everything. Drinking and eating is another
Yes, we have common needs that must be met. Though we share these with literal animals as well. You mention that we groom ourselves and others. So do chimps, cats, dogs, birds etc. etc. You say we have spiritual health that must be maintained, we don't have the ablity to commune with oher species to see if they have anything of the sort, but I would find it hard to believe that some of the smarter animals wouldn't have some sort of spiritual connections. Just because we have that in common doesn't mean that the practices are similar at all. The different ways how the people of the world have gone about fulfilling these needs are so drastic that they seem nearly impossible to those from other regions. The differences are so great that they have shaped the people themselves into beings who although appear similar, are vastly different by all accounts.
New Dan Davis video drop! Oh it's gonna be a good Sunday. Gonna get a nice drink ready (probably just a soda from the fridge but i'll put it in a glass and get a fun straw to make it fancy LOL) and enjoy the video.
This channel is fantastic. I felt stressed out from all of the work. I chose a comfy spot to sit, drank my coffee, and watched this clip, immersed in the pictures, feeling relaxed and refreshed afterwards. Keep up the great work!
Yours is some of my favourite content on RUclips. I mentioned before that I was seriously ill through December and into February with pneumonia and I really thought this is it. When awake I watched all your videos plus Mr Ballen, What Lurks Beneath and The Lore Lodge. I am now an expert on the bronze age but I am also convinced I could not only track and catch Bigfoot but wrestle he/him to the floor. Thank you again Mr Davis.
My guy, you might be the first RUclipsr to have ever sold me on his sponsor product. I love my safety razor, but it's old and was a cheapo box mart model, and these look like a quality upgrade. Loving the video so far, like always, masculine beauty is an underappreciated topic 😏
Your last comments in the video reminded me of “Y Goddodin” Before the big raid on the Angles by the Goddodin/Votadini (of what’s now south-east Scotland & north Northumberland) warriors are collected from as far afield as Wales and northern Scotland and ritually feasted - for a year or something - before the raid on “Catteraeth”. What survives of Irish oral literature has a shedload of stuff all about ritual hosting, from all sorts of elaborate laws on it - governing behaviour at the type of inns they had, which were run entirely at the host’s expense as a high-status activity - to the mythology of the endlessly refilled iron porridge cauldron.
Thank you again you are so good not only a story Teller but a student of anthropology study of humanity you bring back the ancestors my our ancestors cheers and we are obligated to you keep up making progress thanks again
Of course, there's also the practical/safety aspect of not having a beard that your enemy could grab and use to pull your head up, to expose your neck to his sword. Long hair can be slicked back, to make it impossible to grab easily (or it can be hidden beneath a helmet), but there's little to nothing you can do about an exposed, dangling chin-bush, to keep it out of easy grasp.
Two things A) hygiene. Long hair and bushing beards in a communal society where men were put together for war or fraternity? A party for lice or other parasites. B)the idea of men who are not "beautiful" and not concerned to grooming?. A stupid Victorian BS. Since times immemorial, we find descriptions of men who stress their beauty (where to begin?, ephebes in ancient Greek. Rome? Well........Cu Culainn is a hunk in Celtic lore and middle ages we can have Omar Khajan and traditional story telling.....I could go on for ages). The idea that those very manly men were a bunch is slob but a badass is a modern concoction
I dunno…first you have to get close enough to a warrior wielding a spear, sword, axe, or whatnot to even grab his beard. I put it to you that if you’re that far inside the protective arc of an enemy’s weapons, you probably have him, beard or no. The helmets worn by Alexander’s troops often had cheek pieces and other facial protections that would have been just as easy to grab hold of. But again, getting close enough to do that is the trick.
One of the reasons that I really enjoyed Dan Davis history is because when he speculates, he clearly calls it out as speculation. Although, generally, his speculations seem obvious and correct. Some purveyors of history say things with such certainty as to allow for no other interpretation; and I find that to be very tedious. Cheers to Dan Davis history from Vermont, USA.
The ritual before and after battle is an interesting little tidbit of information. Maybe an ancient attempt to avoid post-traumatic stress? It is also very interesting that being well groomed already then was a carrier of social status - "I have the wealth to buy the tools and the time to use them, possibly a servant do it for me". Edit: I can't help thinking a bit about when the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings met. Both are clearly Indo-European warrior cultures that just a few centuries earlier were neighbors. Nevertheless, the Vikings had a significantly different culture for cleanliness and personal grooming, e.g. bathing every week, whereas the Anglo-Saxons would bathe maybe every half year.
We see these ritual preparations even today, ice hockey players not shaving until their team has lost, and sometimes until they have won a championship. Maybe there was a degree of superstition in there too.
Cattle raiding and haughing (cutting the cows’ hamstrings) was still a kinda semi-ritual warfare between the landed gentry in Scotland until an astonishingly late period. Long after it was formally illegal it was still considered a kind of right by/for sons of these families, who’d ride out with a retinue of their servants/poorer relations specifically to do it, up to about the 17th-18th century. It was seen as a form of justice, claiming of rights in disputes, or vendetta - distinct from plain old reiving. (If you were poor it was just reiving.) In fact a lot of bronze-age cultural remnants seem to have persisted well into the late iron age, medieval or later, in the western and northern parts of these islands.
Intriguing as where I live there are a number of graves still in situe and some the where plundered by local farmers. People most likely lived in the valley 3000 years (and long before) ago
By 1:05 I had to rewind and spend 5 minutes looking at each display. The bird on the razor threw me. I thought it looked like a chicken? Not possible. It's a rather mean looking seagull. Thrilled. The horn combs were flattened with heat and then the teeth were cut by putting sand on the warp threads of a warp-weighted loom and were cut relatively quickly. You can tell by the uniformity of the bottom of each cut. Sally Pointer the Neolithic handspinner should know about this. The combs made that way will also serve as weaving combs.
Well Dan my man, I've watched all your videos and have thoroughly enjoyed every one. I want to thank you for the effort and congrats on a job well done. Now, I shall start over and watch again. Thank you. The Dude
In Spain there's a saying "antes muerta que sencilla" (I'd rather be dead than plain). I think these bronze age warriors also rather die than looking bad and unfashionable. 😂
Makes sense that if one is going out on an expedition, one gets rid of knits, gets perfectly clean, and dizzies oneself up for a contest of wiles. It's a natural response in my mind.
Shaving the hair is important for the warrior. The Romans were not the first to shave to avoid the beard being grabbed and used as a handle in combat. Some warriors even shaved the front half of their heads to avoid an enemy being able to grab it from the front. Shaving and tweezing hair also had hygiene reasons behind them. A big beard would be a prime magnet for parasites.
Are there any primary sources stating that that is the reason the Romans shaved? That reasoning sounds like a myth. Plenty of other Indo-European warrior classes wore beards or other sorts of facial hair, and when you're armed with a sword or spear and shield fighting in formation with many other men your beard is likely not much of a liability in combat. Clean shaving was probably simply more of a cultural style for the Romans, and it is one which changed over time, as later Romans often wore beards.
@@connor3284 Yeah there's no way grabbing hair would be relevant in armed combat. It is convenient to not have hair for putting on armour though and for keeping clean. And I would think long hair that isn't tightly bound up would be a liability in wrestling if the rules permit grabbing it but beards really wouldn't be. I agree it's just fashion.
@@skyworm8006 "It is convenient to not have hair for putting on armour though and for keeping clean." This is a hypothesized reason for the Norman hairstyle, which had the entire back of the head shaved to avoid the hair getting caught in the mail coif.
@@skyworm8006I'm pretty sure the "to not grab beard" is just some people's imagination coupled with the internet's easy way of spreading rumors. I've done some martial arts, so has my little brother and grabbing the beard was never much of a concern. Grabbing someone's beard leave you in a very vulnerable position, and even today, you can see martial artists (even in domains with little rules) still keep a beard because it's not much of a concern. If the romans shaved for any practical reason, I would bet my life it wasn't about grabbing it, but for upkeep mostly.
Also, some study has shown that having a large beard is like a protection pad against jaw trauma, keeping it from being broken too easily from blunt force, be it from a punch or a weapon
Ive always liked the story of Samson in the bible. Its quite striking how in the story he lost his strength (and masculinity) after his hair was cut. One could see how having a good head of hair would signal youth and masculinity. Also having good hair would br s dign of wealth since bad nutrition affect hair quality. Also I guess having time to groom your hair is a sign you arent busy working the lands.
I met my first whales at four years old outside the mouth of the Columbia River, outside of sight of land as three gray whales loomed about 30 feet beneath our 26 foot Owens motorboat riding a six foot smooth swell on a calm sunny summer morning in 1958. As you can imagine it left a profound and lasting impression, the image of the ancient voyager meeting his first whale struck a very strong chord.
...Or the mangaka was basing his aesthetic off historicaland mythological precedents. Everything is a Jojo reference because Jojo draws upon a vast array of pre-existing lore.
Any arrowheads found? Stone and copper and bronze I would imagine...this channel should have 5 million subs.. incredible knowledge and attention to detail of all your topics about the ancient world
Now I imagine archaeologists of the distant future opening a 21st-century grave and finding a perfectly preserved titanium razor beside the skeleton. "This man must have been a very important member of his society to be buried with such a valuable item!"
Great content. fun aspect to the shaving as a right of passage it still is practiced in my country at weddings (married friends of the grom shave the groom in the wedding day).
In the Odyssey Homer waxes poetic about Odisseus appearance in various episodes of the poem. For example when he reveals himself to the suitors, Homer points out that he is resplendent with youth and vigor ( a stretch since he might have been in his mid forties after 10 years of besieging Troy and 20 years of wandering)
Start a petition to change the understanding of the Bronze Age from the use of Bronze to a description of the bronzed bodybuilder warriors. I mean they just got out of the stoneage. Time for the gunshow
You missed the fact that if the chief lost the use of an arm or hand he could no longer lead. If you worship or value perfection then losing it means losing your manhood.
@@Standefiant never read any Irish or Scandinavian myths? Fairytales? They say the red ridding hood is thousands of years old. Then there are the bible myths. And the summerian ones, that were written down. And of course the Egyptian ones. If you go to India you will find myths that are recited down for millennium
The video is illustrated with shots of bare-chested men, hairlessness being valued today (though not by me!). Warriors in the ancient world often fought bare-chested, so I wonder whether they included the chest in shaving practices. Thanks for your scholarship.
Using the same blade shaver for many years. Flip the blade and you get 4 fresh cutting edges out of one blade. Some blade makers are better than others. Wilkinson and Gilette branded blades are crap. Patent razors work well and blades cost is ca 5$ p. A.
Be sure to use the code "dandavis" to get 100 free blades when you purchase your Henson razor here: hensonshaving.com/dandavishistory
You should qualify that even though their razors are not made of bronze, they'll last a life time.
Hi, you may find this interesting to note. The rock art depicted in the video with the canoes and a few figures are most likely what you would observe just before sunrise at the beginning of spring or summer. Or perhaps being raiders the boat in the heavens just after Scorpio, unless they looked at the Virgo constelations as it is a long horizontal group of stars. The iconography of a warrior in the western zodiac is Libra. Thanks for sharing, great video. Take care👍😊
hey Dan, have you seen cave of bones and the recent discoveries about homo naledi`s burials? what do you make of it?
Thanks.
Instead of bc. I like to use the astrological ages, in the great platonic year. 2000 bc Would be the beginning of the Age of Aries (Rome). 4000 bc Would be the beginning of the Age of Taurus (and domestic cows). 6000 bc being the Age of Gemini (twins prominent in mythology). Age of Cancer ♋ (and boat cults). 8000 bc the Age of Leo ♌ 10k bc Age of Virgo ♍ 12k bc Age of Libra ♎ 14k bc Age of Sagittarius ♐ (and hunter-gatherers).
@@peterdeans4635 yes
I read from somewhere that the Persians sent scouts to Thermopylae Pass to check what the Spartan warriors were up to. The scout returned and reported very confused "they are doing gymnastics and combing their hair and behave completely as if there was no massive enemy preparing to attack".
Warriors busy with the Gym Bro Rizz
@@WeAreLegion-projection
Lol. They were preparing for the ultimate sacrifice. Death on the battlefield was considered the greatest honor .
The battle of Thermopylae took place at the end of the archaic period
@@Oddyseouss2077 Yes this was definitely iron age but I was thinking maybe Spartans had inherited this tradition from those bronze age ancestor warriors.
A fun fact about the graves from Borum Eshøj, shown in the video. One of the dead were burried with a small bronze dagger in a much larger sheath. It is belived that he would have owned the maching sword in life, but it must have been too valuable to give him it in death.
"Well, he ain't usin' it!"
@@juanjuri6127 "he won't be needing these sneakers"
Its a common tactic to pull a knife from a sword sheath. The enemy expects a long draw, while hes already stabbed from the quickly drawn dagger.
Or he lost it in battle
Or he willed it to his family, but looked cooler in full battle dress.
The quality of Dan's content is astounding. I've always been interested in the bronze age, but it's such a remote period in human history that we know very little of the bronze age peoples that inhabited Europe aside from what they left buried in the earth. Dan's thorough presentation of the archeological record, beautiful illustrations, and his talent as an author bring these people and their societies to life in a way that I've never experienced! Amazing work Dan
Thank you so much, Drew, that really means a lot to me.
Agreed. Far superior to 99% of the documentaries available on major streaming networks. Hoping to be able to start donating soon.
@@DanDavisHistory🍻
Don't worry it will be here again real soon!
Well. If your an elite mail. I have no idea how the post got involved. I never got the postman to bring me a razor. Ohh maile? Ha. It’s not mithril but thanks. He knows that alpha beta hypothesis has been debunked by dude who came up with it. Whatever.
i suppose it is surprising to most, but when you consider HOW much the Vikings spent time on hair, and looks, and grooming (including especially care of their hair) to the point that other peoples of the time commented on their constant bathing and combing... i think this is something that comes up over and over in cultures...
always interesting to hear/see your videos!
Lmfao vikings clean? 😂😂 They literally used to use the same bath water for a whole family and not even change it. Spit in it sneeze in it and re use. In fact they were notorious for their bad hygiene lol don't know what fantasy you're talking about
@theren2486I believe that was just a way to promote their better ness at the time
Ya and at some points in time belief in looking your best/healthiest declines such time periods and when apparently morbid obesity was considered attractive
Only way to keep flea free.
hygiene is important and many old societys knew that. especially when you sailed together for weeks or months its important to be as clean as possible or else youre pretty much askign to get sick.
Charisma Stat is not to be underestimated
Another important factor in the wealth of elite burials is gift exchange. Such exchange could be from the chief or lord to his retinue, within the clan to reinforce bonds such as marriage, with the links reinforced by gifts, or as part of diplomacy between the leaders of different clans. Warriors might gravitate to a particular chief or lord based on the probability of being gifted with such high status items as pins, brooches and, of course, weapons.
Marrying off daughters creates stability.
So, yes.
I think they also sent their men out at a certain age, to get familiar with a people to establish protection for trade routes.
The business of a man is to be true to himself & others. And whenever possible, do it with style! (advice from my dad)
Good advice.
@@DanDavisHistory When I was a soldier, we took pride in our "turn-out"!
Good dad man 😊
You Dad has got it all figured out. Salute to your big man.
I love that
Dan Davis. Your research and sources are astonishing. I am an archaeologist and I find your content brilliant. Please keep up the good work
I doubt it
@@lucylovicWhy?
Interesting. Reminds me of how Sikhs keep long hair and combs as articles of faith and have a martial history.
Perhaps passed down Indo-European culture?
@leggonarm9835 Maybe but the religion is only 500 years old.
After engaging in traumatic behavior, self soothing affirmation like combing your hair makes sense.
@@gyllenspetzfamily7993gehy
It's not unique to Sikhism as a religion, if u see any old Indian king statues or paintings, you'll see all of them had long hair tied upwards.
U can even see Chinese nobles of past have long hair.
The exquisite craftsmanship of these everyday items, especially the grooming items, says a great deal about this group of people and their relationship with their world. Such a wonderful video. Thank you..
My read of the combs and grooming tools in these burials was always that, yes, they honored and valued their warriors...but their mothers/wives/aunts/sisters/daughters weren't gonna let them go out there without looking pretty.
Remember that a warrior taking care of his beard or hair isn't just a status thing, but a military necessity, you don't want to have your sweaty hair in your eyes during battle
perhaps that is how it started - not wanting hair in your eyes, a beard that can be yanked, hair under your helmet etc and then, given that a warrior has a lot more spare time than a farmer and that precision and perfection in martial arts are important, all joined into personal vanity...
And your looks can affect your opponents. As a youth… I had an extreme pretty boy look and dress…
It made my opponents super over confident and profoundly worked to my advantage continuously.
They were just oh so certain I was nothing of concern, yet they wanted to rob, harm, or punk me… or others I cared about or who I was paid to protect.
All I had to do at the beginning of the combat was to agree with their expectations. I acted extra weak at the moment of combat…
Fascinating to watch my opponents face, the over confidence was astonishing… seconds later… they were drenched in fear, horror and dumbfoundedness plus at times pain as well but not always.
Now as an older adult I look more scary, and am bigger, much bigger.
The look now repels most trouble all the time.
Looks profoundly matter most of the time.
@karamlevi 🤓🤓🤓
You shine light on these fascinating ancient behaviours that are probably more close to our own than we think. Thanks Dan!
Superbly researched.
It made me smile when you said "Gold cups fit for a king". George V used the Rillaton early Bronze Age cup as a shaving mug before it was 'rediscovered'...which sort of fits the sponsor of the video too.
This was without doubt one of the best videos I've ever seen. It was exactly the same as reading one of those books that throws open dozens of doors in the mind, for you to enter and explore. Thank you so much. As always with your videos, it drew together and made coherent sense of many loose ends for me. I've just watched it three times! Wow!
I love all your videos Dan, so well put together. I really look forward to them.
This was fantastic. I hope you keep it up in the production of these sorts of videos which recall to us the ways of our ancestors. I dream of the beautiful warriors every day, and I see them in the faces of the kin of my tribe every day.
It's always a treat to see Flevoland on maps of prehistoric Europe.
Yeah we Dutch build a lot of dikes in the bronze age, and we had the best wireless telephone system, not one cable was found, ever!
@@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands Yeah, those were the days. Back then we really had this "biodegradable" fad figured out.
@@skariaxil ok ik lig in een deuk
Great video Dan, i had long wanted to see a video on this cult of body and martial veneration during the bronze age.
Us Indo-European’s are just tasty.
It’s one thing to capture Europe & Central Asia, it’s another to do so while looking amazing.
We're the best race!
LMAO 🎉😂
@@drengr811strong SSDP vibes there
@@thefisherking78 What's SSDP?
Yup
Babe, wake up! New bronze age Dan Davis just dropped
And that during the release of Kings and Generals' 2 hour extremely comprehensive video on the history of what we now refer to as celtic.. What a day!
After setting a bit of the scene, let us get transported like no one else can have us to the deep, mystic past
(may I request or suggest to some day bring us to the bronze age Low Countries, I've recently read about the "Nordwestblock", a non-celtic, non-germanic Indo-European culture. It seemed that this region is where the Hilversum culture and the Nordic Bronze Age culture, and where some old survived. The archaeological finds are many over there, and I'd like to hear you put it in the wider european context)
I always notice how the teeth on these skeletons are not crooked...
Meat based diet,and lots of vit d from outdoor living in sunlight
cries in British
Lower jaw structures and teeth changed with the introduction of the fork. Overbite became the norm whereas previously upper front teeth met lower front teeth.
@@IVIasterKush I thought it was shrinking mouths due to processed foods...So chopstick using Asians don't have crooked teeth?
@@adrianlouw2499 they have worse overbite. The biting and tearing of meat straight off a dagger (or in the case of stone age man, off the bone) makes the bottom and top front teeth align. Asians precut the meat into pieces that can be picked up with chop sticks. Hence the WW2 racial stereotype of Japanese soldiers having buck teeth.
Displaying good health and vitality is something you see all the time in nature and the Human animal is no different. Presenting our best selves to potential rivals and mates is timeless.
Tattoos in some cultures served medicinal purpose. Either tattooing some herb into the diseased or injured part of the body. Or magic talismans, to effect healing.
It did not work, though - they all miserably died, probably in waves of epidemic. What I want to see is a video: "Sink investments of Bronze Age warriors or the danger of preening: how the Bronze Age collapsed." Overall, there is a greater problem here how in human civilizations any surplus leads to "more of the same" instead working for a sustainable future.
Also, tattooing ceraint meridian points, similar to acupuncture. As seen on Ötzi
a few hundred yrs later tattoos and other permanent stigmata in historical european societies were pretty much limited to certain groups of people (continued to be associated with one of these groups until very recently....well, still is but not solely anylonger.....)
such awls must have served an every day purpose and if they aren't tools connected to some unknown common work routine, then they are most likely hygiene utensiles - small iron age toilet sets usually consisted of tweezers, often earspoons or nailscrapers, regularly little "awls" (toothpicks)
I had a thought while watching this. Since these items of hygiene are often associated with weapons, could they possibly be part of a first aid or personal surgical kit? For a warrior a first aid kit would be essential equipment.
I saw this in Afghanistan.
. . . brilliant return from the sponsor. Of course, you write creatively. I love how you do what you do. Keep it coming Dan.
I recall the passage from Tacitus' Germania you mentioned that referred to the rite of being unkempt until the slaying of one's tribe's enemy. I belive he was speaking of the Chatti who lived in whats now modern Hesse/Saxony. Thank you tremendously for preserving the lesser known periods of history!
Tacitus was writing during the iron age
Great detective work Nancy drew lol
Dont take Germania at face value its largely second hand or third hand sources combined with his own conjecture.
Also fun fact it was one of Heinrich Himmlers favourite books.
swear to god, this is as good as it gets for content. outstanding stuff.
Your channel is the best recommendation RUclips gave me ever. I never even thought much about this ancient history and now I'm determined to learn everything about it
Thank you, that made my day.
Great video. It's interesting to note how the use of razors continued into the Iron Age during the Hallstatt and La Tene periods.
Great video, always stunned by the beauty of artwork created so long ago. Cheers
Good stuff as always, Dan!
The more I learn about different cultures, the more commonalities I see. Cultures separated by time and space still place much emphasis on the same things, like grooming, spiritual health, and a desire to be remembered. Just reinforces the fact that some desires are truly universal for us humans.
Actually we are very different.
Grooming is a universal animal trait. Even flies and cockroaches groom themselves. That's what they're doing when you see them wiping their legs together or wiping their arms over their antenna.
Grooming in particular is shared by almost all living creatures. There are some things that are just natural for everything. Drinking and eating is another
@@Friggsdottir like in what?
Yes, we have common needs that must be met. Though we share these with literal animals as well. You mention that we groom ourselves and others. So do chimps, cats, dogs, birds etc. etc. You say we have spiritual health that must be maintained, we don't have the ablity to commune with oher species to see if they have anything of the sort, but I would find it hard to believe that some of the smarter animals wouldn't have some sort of spiritual connections. Just because we have that in common doesn't mean that the practices are similar at all. The different ways how the people of the world have gone about fulfilling these needs are so drastic that they seem nearly impossible to those from other regions. The differences are so great that they have shaped the people themselves into beings who although appear similar, are vastly different by all accounts.
Lol at the people complaining that Europeans are interested in European pre-history. Who would have thought we would be interested in our ancestors.
Snowflake
@@Sadist574wtf are you talking about
@@Sadist574that would be you.
@@Sadist574tell me you don’t know the meaning of a word without telling me 😂. That or extraordinary projection.
@@Sadist574Hate to break to you goober, you’re the only snowflake here
Dan, I always love hearing your insight into the European Bronze Age. Fantastic 💯
A wonderful follow-up to the Female Beauty, Hairstyles, and Armor videos. Thoroughly enjoyable, as always. Cheers, Mr. Davis!
Thank you so much, my friend 🙏
New Dan Davis video drop! Oh it's gonna be a good Sunday. Gonna get a nice drink ready (probably just a soda from the fridge but i'll put it in a glass and get a fun straw to make it fancy LOL) and enjoy the video.
Love your work Sir Davis!
Absolutely first class, as always.
This channel is fantastic. I felt stressed out from all of the work. I chose a comfy spot to sit, drank my coffee, and watched this clip, immersed in the pictures, feeling relaxed and refreshed afterwards. Keep up the great work!
It’s like a holiday when DD uploads something new 🎉
Absolutely wonderful as always. Many thanks for your insight and eloquence.
Yours is some of my favourite content on RUclips. I mentioned before that I was seriously ill through December and into February with pneumonia and I really thought this is it. When awake I watched all your videos plus Mr Ballen, What Lurks Beneath and The Lore Lodge. I am now an expert on the bronze age but I am also convinced I could not only track and catch Bigfoot but wrestle he/him to the floor. Thank you again Mr Davis.
Thank you very much indeed. I like those kind of channels too - anything that tells a great story 👍
Hey Dan. Love your vids. Keep up the good work!
There is something very calming about your voice. Listening to you keeps me from going into beserker mode.
Warriors be looking like a SNACC back in the day.
Dan, i gotta tell you, man. Your work is absolutely great.👍
My guy, you might be the first RUclipsr to have ever sold me on his sponsor product. I love my safety razor, but it's old and was a cheapo box mart model, and these look like a quality upgrade. Loving the video so far, like always, masculine beauty is an underappreciated topic 😏
Your last comments in the video reminded me of “Y Goddodin” Before the big raid on the Angles by the Goddodin/Votadini (of what’s now south-east Scotland & north Northumberland) warriors are collected from as far afield as Wales and northern Scotland and ritually feasted - for a year or something - before the raid on “Catteraeth”.
What survives of Irish oral literature has a shedload of stuff all about ritual hosting, from all sorts of elaborate laws on it - governing behaviour at the type of inns they had, which were run entirely at the host’s expense as a high-status activity - to the mythology of the endlessly refilled iron porridge cauldron.
Thank you again you are so good not only a story Teller but a student of anthropology study of humanity you bring back the ancestors my our ancestors cheers and we are obligated to you keep up making progress thanks again
Of course, there's also the practical/safety aspect of not having a beard that your enemy could grab and use to pull your head up, to expose your neck to his sword. Long hair can be slicked back, to make it impossible to grab easily (or it can be hidden beneath a helmet), but there's little to nothing you can do about an exposed, dangling chin-bush, to keep it out of easy grasp.
That makes sense.
Two things
A) hygiene. Long hair and bushing beards in a communal society where men were put together for war or fraternity? A party for lice or other parasites.
B)the idea of men who are not "beautiful" and not concerned to grooming?. A stupid Victorian BS. Since times immemorial, we find descriptions of men who stress their beauty (where to begin?, ephebes in ancient Greek. Rome? Well........Cu Culainn is a hunk in Celtic lore and middle ages we can have Omar Khajan and traditional story telling.....I could go on for ages). The idea that those very manly men were a bunch is slob but a badass is a modern concoction
Hygiene first and foremost. A bunch of men together with long hair and bushy beards? Party for lice and other parasites
I dunno…first you have to get close enough to a warrior wielding a spear, sword, axe, or whatnot to even grab his beard. I put it to you that if you’re that far inside the protective arc of an enemy’s weapons, you probably have him, beard or no. The helmets worn by Alexander’s troops often had cheek pieces and other facial protections that would have been just as easy to grab hold of. But again, getting close enough to do that is the trick.
I was thinking the same.
One of the reasons that I really enjoyed Dan Davis history is because when he speculates, he clearly calls it out as speculation. Although, generally, his speculations seem obvious and correct. Some purveyors of history say things with such certainty as to allow for no other interpretation; and I find that to be very tedious. Cheers to Dan Davis history from Vermont, USA.
Wonderfull video , many thanks .
Nicely done
This video ties in well to your video on the Koryos.
One of the most underrated channel on YT!
I really enjoy your videos bud, excellent always.
Thank you, Mr Squatch.
I loved this. Thanks so much for this wonderful video.
The ritual before and after battle is an interesting little tidbit of information. Maybe an ancient attempt to avoid post-traumatic stress? It is also very interesting that being well groomed already then was a carrier of social status - "I have the wealth to buy the tools and the time to use them, possibly a servant do it for me".
Edit: I can't help thinking a bit about when the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings met. Both are clearly Indo-European warrior cultures that just a few centuries earlier were neighbors. Nevertheless, the Vikings had a significantly different culture for cleanliness and personal grooming, e.g. bathing every week, whereas the Anglo-Saxons would bathe maybe every half year.
Wow, another cracker from this rich era that you bring to life so well. Fascinating minutiae, and 11/10 ad read. Nice one Dan.
Thank you so much, Ben, glad you enjoyed it 🙏
We see these ritual preparations even today, ice hockey players not shaving until their team has lost, and sometimes until they have won a championship. Maybe there was a degree of superstition in there too.
Your plug for Henson razors actually interested me…! 🙏
Cattle raiding and haughing (cutting the cows’ hamstrings) was still a kinda semi-ritual warfare between the landed gentry in Scotland until an astonishingly late period. Long after it was formally illegal it was still considered a kind of right by/for sons of these families, who’d ride out with a retinue of their servants/poorer relations specifically to do it, up to about the 17th-18th century. It was seen as a form of justice, claiming of rights in disputes, or vendetta - distinct from plain old reiving. (If you were poor it was just reiving.)
In fact a lot of bronze-age cultural remnants seem to have persisted well into the late iron age, medieval or later, in the western and northern parts of these islands.
Lovely as always!
Your Documantaries are a treat. ;D
Fantastic video as always and a really fascinating topic!
Thank you very much, AA.
Hi Dan! Didnt know the best place to reach out to you…I just started reading Godborn - I cannot put it down! Fantastic story! Thank you!
It will be nice to do a video about bronze age Greece
Dan, this was beautiful. Such a lovely and immense culture! I love my ancestors and learning about them is seriously fascinating.
Quite a tie-in for Henson.
Thank you again
Intriguing as where I live there are a number of graves still in situe and some the where plundered by local farmers. People most likely lived in the valley 3000 years (and long before) ago
Dude, I freaking love your videos. Keep 'em coming, I eat this stuff up for real
By 1:05 I had to rewind and spend 5 minutes looking at each display. The bird on the razor threw me. I thought it looked like a chicken? Not possible. It's a rather mean looking seagull. Thrilled.
The horn combs were flattened with heat and then the teeth were cut by putting sand on the warp threads of a warp-weighted loom and were cut relatively quickly. You can tell by the uniformity of the bottom of each cut. Sally Pointer the Neolithic handspinner should know about this. The combs made that way will also serve as weaving combs.
Wow, thanks for sharing this info.🤩
Well Dan my man, I've watched all your videos and have thoroughly enjoyed every one. I want to thank you for the effort and congrats on a job well done.
Now, I shall start over and watch again. Thank you. The Dude
It’s called “Officer Presence”. If you want to command, you must look like you have the authority.
Another amazing work Dan. Thank you for helping bring our past to life.
In Spain there's a saying "antes muerta que sencilla" (I'd rather be dead than plain). I think these bronze age warriors also rather die than looking bad and unfashionable. 😂
I could have translated it better myself.
Makes sense that if one is going out on an expedition, one gets rid of knits, gets perfectly clean, and dizzies oneself up for a contest of wiles. It's a natural response in my mind.
That amber pot is awesome
Thank you so much for making this content. This history should be remembered and to be remembered it needs to passed on.
Shaving the hair is important for the warrior. The Romans were not the first to shave to avoid the beard being grabbed and used as a handle in combat. Some warriors even shaved the front half of their heads to avoid an enemy being able to grab it from the front. Shaving and tweezing hair also had hygiene reasons behind them. A big beard would be a prime magnet for parasites.
Are there any primary sources stating that that is the reason the Romans shaved? That reasoning sounds like a myth. Plenty of other Indo-European warrior classes wore beards or other sorts of facial hair, and when you're armed with a sword or spear and shield fighting in formation with many other men your beard is likely not much of a liability in combat. Clean shaving was probably simply more of a cultural style for the Romans, and it is one which changed over time, as later Romans often wore beards.
@@connor3284 Yeah there's no way grabbing hair would be relevant in armed combat. It is convenient to not have hair for putting on armour though and for keeping clean. And I would think long hair that isn't tightly bound up would be a liability in wrestling if the rules permit grabbing it but beards really wouldn't be. I agree it's just fashion.
@@skyworm8006 "It is convenient to not have hair for putting on armour though and for keeping clean."
This is a hypothesized reason for the Norman hairstyle, which had the entire back of the head shaved to avoid the hair getting caught in the mail coif.
@@skyworm8006I'm pretty sure the "to not grab beard" is just some people's imagination coupled with the internet's easy way of spreading rumors. I've done some martial arts, so has my little brother and grabbing the beard was never much of a concern. Grabbing someone's beard leave you in a very vulnerable position, and even today, you can see martial artists (even in domains with little rules) still keep a beard because it's not much of a concern. If the romans shaved for any practical reason, I would bet my life it wasn't about grabbing it, but for upkeep mostly.
Also, some study has shown that having a large beard is like a protection pad against jaw trauma, keeping it from being broken too easily from blunt force, be it from a punch or a weapon
Great example of interpretation of the past through contemporary viewpoints.
Ive always liked the story of Samson in the bible.
Its quite striking how in the story he lost his strength (and masculinity) after his hair was cut.
One could see how having a good head of hair would signal youth and masculinity. Also having good hair would br s dign of wealth since bad nutrition affect hair quality.
Also I guess having time to groom your hair is a sign you arent busy working the lands.
Excellent points. Cannot see farmers and livestock raisers having the time or the inclination or the money to be so engaged in beauty rituals.
and not just a good head of hair but long locks of one
I met my first whales at four years old outside the mouth of the Columbia River, outside of sight of land as three gray whales loomed about 30 feet beneath our 26 foot Owens motorboat riding a six foot smooth swell on a calm sunny summer morning in 1958. As you can imagine it left a profound and lasting impression, the image of the ancient voyager meeting his first whale struck a very strong chord.
dan davis never misses...
Your username is too powerful for me handle.
This was so informative, Dan! Thank you for your hard work. I’m a big fan.
TLDR: Bronze Age European warrior elite had the aesthetics of jojo’s
...Or the mangaka was basing his aesthetic off historicaland mythological precedents. Everything is a Jojo reference because Jojo draws upon a vast array of pre-existing lore.
Any arrowheads found? Stone and copper and bronze I would imagine...this channel should have 5 million subs.. incredible knowledge and attention to detail of all your topics about the ancient world
Now I imagine archaeologists of the distant future opening a 21st-century grave and finding a perfectly preserved titanium razor beside the skeleton. "This man must have been a very important member of his society to be buried with such a valuable item!"
Always so excited when i see you dropped a show!
Cattle die
Kinsman die
The self must also die
But glory never dies
For the man who is able to achieve it
E K E R I L A Z
Great content.
fun aspect to the shaving as a right of passage it still is practiced in my country at weddings (married friends of the grom shave the groom in the wedding day).
In the Odyssey Homer waxes poetic about Odisseus appearance in various episodes of the poem. For example when he reveals himself to the suitors, Homer points out that he is resplendent with youth and vigor ( a stretch since he might have been in his mid forties after 10 years of besieging Troy and 20 years of wandering)
Mediterranean regime kept them forever young.
Start a petition to change the understanding of the Bronze Age from the use of Bronze to a description of the bronzed bodybuilder warriors. I mean they just got out of the stoneage. Time for the gunshow
You missed the fact that if the chief lost the use of an arm or hand he could no longer lead. If you worship or value perfection then losing it means losing your manhood.
You came to that conclusion based on what evidence?
@@Standefiant many myths and stories you obviously haven't read.
@@lenabreijer1311 They wouldn't be from that time as their isnt any recorded history from then. All that came much much later.
@@Standefiant never read any Irish or Scandinavian myths? Fairytales? They say the red ridding hood is thousands of years old. Then there are the bible myths. And the summerian ones, that were written down. And of course the Egyptian ones. If you go to India you will find myths that are recited down for millennium
@@lenabreijer1311 All written centuries after the time period.
Great video, Dan. I always appreciate your well-researched content!
The video is illustrated with shots of bare-chested men, hairlessness being valued today (though not by me!). Warriors in the ancient world often fought bare-chested, so I wonder whether they included the chest in shaving practices. Thanks for your scholarship.
I like my shoulder and chest hair. It means I'm high T.
@@connor3284Shaving and letting them grow again also boosts T or so I've read
A well made & fascinating video. Thank You.
Using the same blade shaver for many years. Flip the blade and you get 4 fresh cutting edges out of one blade. Some blade makers are better than others. Wilkinson and Gilette branded blades are crap. Patent razors work well and blades cost is ca 5$ p. A.
Good call.
@@DanDavisHistorythx. Enjoy your take on history very much!
I've liked every video I have ever watched here. Great content!