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Bronze Age Gaming

Started by Zachary The First, February 11, 2008, 11:15:45 PM

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Ian Absentia

#45
February 14, 2008, 01:55:58 AM
Quote from: John Morrow...that doesn't mean that they don't find wood or the evidence of it, not only the wooden objects found in King Tut's tomb, for example, but also what's carved into stone reliefs and what's inventoried in clay tablets, including the administrative tablets of Mycenaean sites written in Linear B.
I think estar is referring to artifacts from much earlier periods...or the lack thereof.  Not only wood, but textiles as well.  Every so often, researchers will find an imprint of woven cloth on a clay potsherd, or a piece of statuary that suggests intricate adornment with non-durable materials.  Many of these indirect artifacts date to Neolithic or even Mesolithic eras.

This brings me to the sort of Bronze Era adventure I'd really be interested in -- playing members of a Neolithic culture that is peripheral to an emerging Bronze Age culture.  Do you and your people want to rush in and embrace technological and social advance, or do you shun it as a corruption of your traditional way of life?

Speaking of which... :D

!i!

John Morrow

#46
February 14, 2008, 03:20:57 AM
Quote from: Ian AbsentiaI think estar is referring to artifacts from much earlier periods...or the lack thereof.  Not only wood, but textiles as well.  Every so often, researchers will find an imprint of woven cloth on a clay potsherd, or a piece of statuary that suggests intricate adornment with non-durable materials.  Many of these indirect artifacts date to Neolithic or even Mesolithic eras.

True.  Underwater archaeology, particularly in the Black Sea, holds some promise in that area, though.  And there are always finds like the Copper Age Ice Man Ötzi, who was found in pretty good shape.

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaSpeaking of which...

Yes, I really want to see that.  I'm sure it's going to have plenty of wince-inducing anachronisms but if I can watch it the way I watch movies like Scorpion King, it looks like it could be a lot of fun and great source material.
Robin Laws\' Game Styles Quiz Results:
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John Morrow

#47
February 14, 2008, 03:23:18 AM
Quote from: Ian AbsentiaThis brings me to the sort of Bronze Era adventure I'd really be interested in -- playing members of a Neolithic culture that is peripheral to an emerging Bronze Age culture.  Do you and your people want to rush in and embrace technological and social advance, or do you shun it as a corruption of your traditional way of life?

Or do you run away as fast as you can before you are impaled on the end of a Mycenaean spear like the fur-wearing guys in that fresco. :p
Robin Laws\' Game Styles Quiz Results:
Method Actor 100%, Butt-Kicker 75%, Tactician 42%, Storyteller 33%, Power Gamer 33%, Casual Gamer 33%, Specialist 17%

estar

#48
February 14, 2008, 09:16:52 AM
Quote from: John MorrowTrue.  Underwater archaeology, particularly in the Black Sea, holds some promise in that area, though.  And there are always finds like the Copper Age Ice Man Ötzi, who was found in pretty good shape.

He had a fairly good toolkit on him which really wouldn't been preserved under normal conditions.

estar

#49
February 14, 2008, 09:20:38 AM
Quote from: John MorrowOr do you run away as fast as you can before you are impaled on the end of a Mycenaean spear like the fur-wearing guys in that fresco. :p

I would argue that the Myceanaens would be a bit bias in their own art. ;-) How many of them would get run through with a flink knapped spear. Remember by the Neolithic stone tool making had been honed to a high art.

My feeling that a Neolithic warrior would have a lot of spares as flint is not as durable (or repairable) as bronze weaponry. And certainly would have their hands full against an armored warrior.

estar

#50
February 14, 2008, 09:26:50 AM
Quote from: John MorrowLike I said, there is a lot of speculation because there is very little hard evidence of what actually caused it.
 

I believe one of the characteristics of the Dark Age was that a lot of people who were writing stopped. Not everyone but enough that many areas went "dark" so to speak. Also the Dark Age has a lot to do with the perspective of the Greeks. We had Mycenae writing, then nothing, then the Classical Greeks writing.  We also know that it was a interregnum period between large empires in the middle east. So how dark was the dark ages.

Quote from: John MorrowMy own guess is that the end of the Bronze Age was caused by a combination of various factors with no one definitive cause.

I know I talked a lot about iron and bronze collapsing trade but even if I am correct I agree it is only one of many factors.

John Morrow

#51
February 14, 2008, 01:35:01 PM
Quote from: estarI would argue that the Myceanaens would be a bit bias in their own art. ;-) How many of them would get run through with a flink knapped spear. Remember by the Neolithic stone tool making had been honed to a high art.

The barbarians in that fresco are conveniently unarmed. ;)

Bronze Age art could get pretty funny at times, like the Egyptian stone carving that depicts the enemy throwing their arrows at the Egyptians because the artist didn't want to depict an archer pointing a bow at the Pharaoh, which could have appeared to have been endangering him.  Point taken about propoganda.
Robin Laws\' Game Styles Quiz Results:
Method Actor 100%, Butt-Kicker 75%, Tactician 42%, Storyteller 33%, Power Gamer 33%, Casual Gamer 33%, Specialist 17%

John Morrow

#52
February 16, 2008, 01:15:37 AM
Robin Laws\' Game Styles Quiz Results:
Method Actor 100%, Butt-Kicker 75%, Tactician 42%, Storyteller 33%, Power Gamer 33%, Casual Gamer 33%, Specialist 17%
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