One day, sometime around 1700 BC, a bronzesmith made the first sword. This marked a technological turning point, giving rise to an arms race that has never since ceased. Soon, over a vast area between the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, thousands of weapons were manufactured. They were used in combat, then laid to rest, whole or broken, often during complex rituals that are still hard for us to understand. Through the sword, the Bronze Age brought war into being. The warrior became an important figure. Societies were transformed, and came to revolve politically and economically around warfare. Western Europe developed new social structures, a new kind of civilisation involving neither towns, nor writing. By tackling the subject ‘a call to arms’, Anne Lehoërff investigates war’s long-term development. She focusses on oral societies which have for a long while remained poorly understood, passed over by a historical tradition that saw the world of Classical Antiquity in a different light to that of ‘primitive’ peoples. But our European ancestors have their own history, and this book tells it. The French edition of A CALL TO ARMS was awarded the Verdun World Peace Center History Prize in 2018. Introduction: Encountering War How history comes to the historian Going to war History, a human science Archaeology in history War and European Protohistory revisited What Wars? Introductory narrative: Once upon a time, a warrior’s weapons… War words Theories of war The philosophical angle Stateless societies as seen by Europeans The ‘savage’ beneath our feet Ever more archaeological evidence Archaeology and history The ‘primitive’ in the city The war of origins The Celt of our dreams And there was war… Research ‘evidence’ Introductory narrative: Keeping Arms An abundance of evidence After the battle The Metal Ages in pictures Scenes of combat The first battlefields Sacred sites and cult objects Skeletons and splinters The Lessons of Bones When Metal Speaks Introductory narrative: The World of Metal Fascinating metal Metal choices in Europe Unpicking harlequin’s cloak Hierarchies that dare not speak their name Deciphering and understanding In the laboratory Starting the investigation at the end In the bronze smith’s cauldron Under the metalworker’s hammer A list of weapons Narrative introduction: The bronze-smith in his workshop The sword extends the arm The sword evolves And a scabbard… The spear thickens Arrows of outrageous fortune The ambiguity of the hafted axe A shield to protect the body The metal helmet reinforces the warrior’s head Metal to embellish the breast Off to war Introductory narrative: Taking up arms Violence in the Palaeolithic Multiple-use technology in the Neolithic What kind of Neolithic ‘war’? Declaring war in the Bronze Age The revolution in fighting in 1700 BC Multifaceted war in the Iron Age Violence upon violence Farewell to arms Metal hoards War in all its States Introductory narrative: The 1000 BC warrior on the Normandy coast Women: goddesses or sinners? Masculine domination Rich women without weapons Transgressing norms Reasons for war The State, primitives, the written word. Terms of power. What sort of society? Three ages of war? Words and functions for all The West in the dynamics of warfare Conclusion: The human level Questions of scale War and peace A trip to the Bronze Age kitchen