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 Recording the events of September 1066
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We didn’t find weapons!

This is the second most asked question and one to which one can now offer an explanation for why weapons are not found on battlefields of this era. 

The evidence of many metalworking areas can eventually be firmly dated to the time of the battle then we should not expect to find weapons or battle debris on ancient battlesites.

Weapons belonged to the victors. The wording used by the ASC is translated to say that the visitors ‘possessed’ the field, which might imply that there was a value in owning the site. The reprocessing sites identified, and which it is strongly suggested are associated with the battle on 20 September 1066, demonstrate that work to remove the material was undertaken promptly as we know that the work would have been disrupted after 4 or 5 days.

There must have been some laws and customs dictating who could take what. Before more work is done it would be unwise to speculate further on the ‘pecking order’ after the battle, since the evidence is probably there to allow for a more certain interpretation of who was permitted to take weapons and how this work was done. 

But we did find much evidence that the site was being used to produce tradable billets and weapons.

Although no weapons were found, these items were from the various metal-workings sites found along Germany Beck. They can all be classed as 'billets' since they are not finished articles but are the first step towards manufacturing new items. Some can be clearly identified as arrows and axes while others could become spearheads or knives.  
 

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The author of the content is Charles Jones - fulfordthing@gmail.com   Last updated April 2015

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