In many previous studies of swords in the Bronze and Iron Ages, typology and sequences have been the main focus. I wish, instead, to examine the changing physical structure of these weapons, primarily in the British Isles. My main focus will be how the structure of swords changed and developed in relation to fighting style, technology, available materials, and outside influences.
I have divided the Bronze and Iron Ages up into convenient and, I hope, logical periods. In each period I will first look at how swords developed in Europe in general, how they were used, and finally, how these things apply to Britain. Due to the vast number of things I could include [how I would love to synthesize all the previous work into one vast History of the Sword], and due to the small size of this paper, my treatment of many aspects will be superficial.
I have tended to focus, in each section, on those things for which I was able to obtain the most information, while attempting to keep the discussion balanced.
I have chosen to dispense with typological names almost entirely. My first reason for this is that there are several different typologies or sequences for each period, and these would quickly become confusing in a short paper. My second, and main, reason for dispensing with typology is that I wanted to look at major trends over fairly long periods of time, and not get caught up in the minor differences on which most typologies are based.
That is not to say that we should forever get rid of typology and classification, however, as they have certainly provided a lot of useful information.
