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Weapons and warfare well bronze has a lot going for it it's

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durable flexible pretty to look at and it gave us an easy way to tell who's [Bronzie soldier shields and three guys on a podium receiving olympic medals]

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pretty good at a sport but definitely not the best well nothing says you tried

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more than a bronze medal well bronze also gave us swords talking [Two guys in a park sword fighting]

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long pointy swords the kind you read about in stories like the Iliad by using

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bronze in place of copper swords were able to reach further than ever before [Man throws a sword at another man]

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up to 20 to 35 inches in length and sure they got to 2 to 4 feet in the iron age

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but let's not rain on the parade here people.. actually let's not rain on

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anyone's parade you know plenty of parades hard work for us.. well anyway swords

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were important weapons that remained in use until the 19th century but contrary [Two knights sword fighting]

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to what the movies would have you think they weren't exactly commonplace why

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well for one swords were expensive to make they were also difficult to use [Man holding briefcase full of money to buy a sword]

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properly anybody who doesn't believe us should go insult the fencing masters

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mother and just see what happens, though swords are also strictly close range [Two people fencing]

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weapons they're only useful if we're toe to foe with the foe so unless we have

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one of those swords that shoots fire but those only exist in video games fantasy [Boy dreaming of a video game fantasy]

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novels and our dreams moving on anyway add it all up and it

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becomes pretty clear that swords were symbols of wealth and skill just as much

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as they were actual weapons of war and sure swords are flashy but the real [Two swords crossed over a battle shield]

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heroes of mass warfare in the Bronze Age were actually shields and helmets..well

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prior to the Bronze Age shields and helmets had been made out of materials [Soldiers in armour and helmets on a battlefield]

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that were natural like animal hides wood or tusks which we suppose was a step up from

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their predecessors running away and screaming with your arms over your head [Sabretooth tiger roaring at a group of army men]

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anyway all those old school shields may have earned points for being primitive

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chic and sure they worked well enough against stolen arrows and copper daggers

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but they were no match against bronze weapons which is why bronze shields were [Shield cut in half by a man with a bronze sword]

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a big deal not only did they protect individuals from getting stabbed shot and

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mangled which is definitely a plus they also helped whole groups of soldiers

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form a protective barrier against the enemy good shields changed warfare from [Soldiers forming a barrier together as arrows rain down on them]

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the herds of people screaming and running model to the block of orderly

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marching soldiers yeah soldiers could line their shields up next

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to each other and defend themselves as a group [Army men holding shields march at a group of men]

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hordes of disorganized screaming barbarians didn't stand a chance against

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this new tactic we've had quite a few of them we can revert it to the ancient

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shield method known as running away screaming with your arms over your head [Barbarians running away from soldiers screaming]

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