According to the Lithuanian archaeologist Regina Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė, nothing reflects the development of the society as well as weapons. The latest technical discoveries are primarily applied to arming. In the Iron Age, with the universal introduction of local smelting of iron and production of steel, the weaponry of the Baltic tribes reached an unprecedented level. Vytautas Kazakevičius, the most famous researcher of the Baltic weaponry, states that more than 8,000 close combat weapons – spears, battle knives, battle axes, swords, shields – were found in the graves of Baltic warriors from the 1st to 13th centuries. These should be supplemented with armour, helmets and war riding horses with all their riding gear: bridles, riding bits, spurs, saddles and stirrups, mane ornaments. Archaeological data reveal the abundance and variety of weaponry and warfare customs. Weaponry is intended for a man-to-man fight, for offence and defence, it must correspond to the strategy and tactics of the period or moment and is intended for close-range and long-range fights. Close combat offensive weapons are a battle axe, battle knife, dagger, sword, club, and defensive weapons include a helmet, armour, and a shield. A spear, a bow with arrows, later, a crossbow, artillery are suitable for a long-range fight. An important part of weaponry, without which a longer military campaign is impossible, is the riding horse, its saddle and harness as well as spurs – a horseman’s attributes adapted to control the riding horse. The success of the war depended on defensive structures: fortifications, hillforts, barriers, and ditches. Weaponry also includes all tools for destroying fortresses. In addition to that, warriors must be taught to handle a weapon, to fight collectively, the tricks of tactics and strategy, military intelligence, supply and we will see that war and warfare is an entire world involving all people. War, which has become a business and way of life of the tribal nobility, overgrows with legends, war chiefs are worshiped as heroes, and songs are written about them. Certain rituals and rites, the concept of the warrior’s honour, the customs of war and the law of war, which are more or less observed by everyone, settle, while the goals, causes of wars, the spoils of war, although changing all the time, always remain the same – the desire for honour, wealth and power.
Every period of the Iron Age in the Baltic regions differed in the number of inhabitants, living conditions, level of technology, the tribes had allies and enemies; it is therefore appropriate to review the development of the weaponry of the Baltic tribes starting from the first centuries anno Domini and ending with the creation of states.
THE OLD IRON AGE. THE PERIOD OF ROMAN INFLUENCE
The first four centuries anno Domini are called the Old Iron Age, or the period of Roman influence. During this period, iron smelting became widespread, the level of the economy rose sharply, and the number of people increased, leading to an increase in competition and conflicts. Migration of coastal tribes (not always peaceful) to the central and eastern edges of the Baltic region began. The custom to see off the armed warrior to the other world takes hold. It has been estimated that at that time, weapons in graves made up only 7%-20% of all grave goods. According to V. Kazakevičius, there was no strict military organization in the period of Roman influence. Military clashes were most likely local, lightly armoured conscripts sufficed: these were men of a tribe or several kins, led by a courageous, authoritative chief. More weapons are found on the western edge of the Baltic habitat, and the Prussian tribes had the most of them. Sambian amber and the Amber Road that ran from it across the entire Europe to the Roman Empire allowed them to acquire new modern weaponry, and via Prussians, military news and technologies spread throughout the entire Baltic region. The most important light weaponry of that period was the spear and the shield. Iron spearheads are made in various shapes, but all spears have a similar function – they are intended for long-range battles. As early as from the 2nd century, battle knives, close combat weapons appear in the western Baltic lands. A narrow-bladed axe is adapted for war and close combat: in the western areas, a socketed axe is more common; in the eastern edge, an axe with a blunt end. First iron shield bosses, or umbos, attached to the middle of the circular shield are also assigned to this period. War riding horses, their bridles, riding bits, spurs found in the graves of the period of Roman influence show the changing nature and growing importance of weaponry and war. On the other hand, not all weaponry was placed in graves. No bow or arrows have been found in any of the warrior graves, but the hillfort excavation material of that period shows that this offensive long-range weapon was widely used. The Roman historian and geographer Tacitus also mentions the threatening Aistian weapon club, which archaeologists have been unable to find.
THE MIDDLE IRON AGE. THE MIGRATION PERIOD.
The Middle Iron Age is also called the Migration period. In the 5th-9th centuries A.D., when the Roman Empire fell, Europe was flooded by Huns who came from far away Asia and reached the present-day southern Lithuania. Their arrows were found in the hillforts of Aukštadvaris, Kernavės, Kunigiškiai, Pajevonis, and two persons were found in Plinkaigalis cemetery in Kėdainiai district, who were killed by stuck arrows of Huns. A woman with a Hun arrow in her hip joint and 4 other individuals with crushed skulls were buried in one multiple burial. These are the victims of the Huns’ raid. During this period, the migration of Goths towards the Black Sea and the Pyrenees began. Eastern Balts were assimilated by the Slavic tribes Krivichs and Dragovits, which wandered from the south, and the tribes of western Slavs moved to the western edge of the Balts’ habitat at the mouth of the Vistula. The Prussian tribe, Galindians, was also touched by the whirlwinds of migration. At the end of the period, around the 8th-9th centuries, the Viking raids on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea raised Sambians and Curonians to fierce battles with sea pirates from Scandinavia – Curonians organized plundering raids to the Danish and Swedish lands time and again. This militant era changed the scale of wars, the routes, distances, weaponry and tactics of naval battles and land campaigns. Weaponry found in the warrior graves in the Baltic burial grounds of the Migration period distinguishes itself by abundance, variety and luxury. Archaeologists call them burials of “dukes” (in the barrow cemetery of Taurapilis, a war-leader was buried with a war riding horse, a two-edged sword, two spears, a shield, and a battle knife) and believe that these were the burials of very rich and influential war-leaders who already had their own warrior elites and could independently or in alliance with other war-leaders organize long-range plundering raids. At this time, the Baltic warefare was greatly changed by such invention of the horse riding gear as iron stirrups, which not only made the long journey easier for the war horseman, but also facilitated the fight: now, the force of the warrior’s strike increased several times. Some researchers of the military history believe that the invention of the stirrup had a significant influence on the formation of the exceptional knightly warfare.
The weaponry of this period, inherited from previous ages – the spear, battle knife, battle axe, and the shield – was supplemented by new weapons, primarily by one-edged swords. There were two types of them: some were in the shape of a battle knife, only much longer, and others, mainly used by Semigallians and Samogitians, were greatly widened at the tip, resembling machetes. No other European nation had such swords. At that time, especially at the end of the period, two-edged swords with cross-guards, made of very high quality steel – excellent works of armourers – begin to spread. They were manufactured, traded, and sometimes lost in the battle by Vikings, Northern Germans who lived in Scandinavia. In Baltic lands, Vikings’ swords could be purchased only by the richest nobles, war-leaders of the tribes. Attention should be drawn to the abundance and variety of spears. Archaeologists distinguish 8 types of spearheads from that period. This shows that the spear remains the main weapon and is used universally, the spearheads being forged widely, by armourers of all tribes, and therefore must be different. Parts of shields, riding bits, spurs and other parts of weaponry are found in the warriors’ burials. Weaponry also includes massive bracelets worn by Semigallian, Lettigallian, and Selonian warriors. In the graves of the warriors of West Baltic tribes (Curonians, Semigallians, Samogitians), far more weapons, attributes of the horseman and the riding horse are found than in the East habitats (of Upland Lithuanians, Lithuanians). West Balts might have had more weapons, they did not spare them for the fallen warriors, but it cannot be ruled out that Upland Lithuanians and Lithuanians did not put weapons in the graves due to different burial customs or mentality peculiarities.
In the Migration period, the nobleman already had the warrior elite, which means a new level of military organization. The organized army is more complex, its parts have different functions. A warrior armed with heavy weapons had 2-3 different spears (for throwing and fighting), a battle axe, a sword, a shield, and a riding horse. Light weaponry included 2 spears, a battle knife, a shield, sometimes a bow with arrows. The formation of the battle order is already beginning, where the light and heavy parts of the warrior elite perform different functions. The increased role and level of warfare is also shown by the powerful fortifications of the hillforts of that time, an entire system of ramparts, ditches and barriers, which is necessary for a more serious defence in order to preserve family and property.
THE LATE IRON AGE. THE PREDAWN OF THE STATE
The Late Iron Age, aptly named by R. Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė as the predawn of the state, is an era of the entire war, internal military conflicts, the formation of tribal unions and fights between them. South Baltic tribes were constantly under threat from Russia and the emerging Polish state, Vikings attacked Prussians and Curonians from the west, and a war with the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Teutonic Order, which lasted several centuries, had already begun. Most importantly, the political and military consolidation of the Baltic tribes began, the first state structures started to develop, involving powerful war chiefs who constantly fought with each other for power and the controlled land. A strong Lithuanian chiefdom emerged, which has connected foreign Slavic and cognate Baltic tribes and created one of the most powerful states in Eastern Europe – the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Regrettably, there is less data about the weaponry of this period than about the Migration period. Due to the custom of cremating the dead, the weaponry sets could not survive so well; apparently, the custom of placing weapons in graves in abundance was also disappearing – there was no such custom in Christian lands at all. However, there is knowledge of a matter of great importance during the predawn of the state – the emergence of a stratum of professional warriors. Every more powerful noble hired a platoon of professional warriors and formed a mobile warrior elite, well-suppled in the use of weapons and prepared for fight tactics from it. This warrior elite, as a military crew, lived together with the ruler in his residential castle, around which artisan settlements were built – the warrior elite had to be dressed, armed, fed, trained, and serviced. This required blacksmiths and armourers, weavers, tailors, bridle makers, leather workers, bootmakers. In addition to that, traders with the imported weapons and luxury goods. The society of that time had to reorganize, adapt to the era, and develop a militaristic lifestyle and culture.
The structure of the heavy and light troops and the main armament remained. There are already written sources from that period, telling something about Balts, their warfare and weaponry. It is observed that the warriors of all Baltic tribes used to go on military campaigns on horseback, but in battles, they would dismount from their horses and fight on foot. The spear remained the main weapon; both in the heavy and light troops, warriors had a few each. Balts’ weapons and horseman’s supply in the Late Iron Age. Henry of Latvia writes in his chronicle that pagans were running in a large group against Christians and throwing spears at them like a sudden rain. Russian chronicles also mention the Lithuanian troops whose helmets and spears were shining like gold in the sun. The older forms of spearheads are still used for weaponry, but new ones have been invented too – very narrow sharp long spearheads for piercing armour in the close combat. Battle axes are also changing. Very wide axes with fan-shaped blades, specially designed for the close combat, are started to be used. When attacking and defending castles, bows with arrows are often needed, and crossbows are gradually occurring. In the graves of this period, steel spiked helmets with a chain mail on the neck, hauberks are already found. Balts’ helmets.
A distinctive feature of the period is an extremely luxurious weaponry possessed by many war chiefs throughout the entire Baltic habitat. Damascus steel weapons also appear: swords, knives, even spearheads.
Constant war campaigns of Balts to distant foreign lands – to Denmark, Sweden by ship, to the Estonian lands of Sakala and Karela, to the Russian and Polish lands by land – allowed the Baltic tribes to get to know the weapons and armour of various countries, sometimes to take them as trophies, and to grasp various tricks of war tactics and customs. Interestingly, historical sources describe war battles with the Baltic tribes, routes of marches, mention one or another name but do not name and separately describe Balts’ weapons, even in cases when warriors take them as a booty. This means that the offensive and defensive weapons of Balts, riding gear of war riding horses and warfare were no different, not inferior to those of other peoples, including Western Europe, of that era.
Source of information: project of Latvia-Lithuania cross-border cooperation programme 2007-2013 “Baltic Culture Park” (Šiauliai Region Development Agency).