The nature and technology of warfare evolved, from earliest times to 1500 CE

The nature and technology of warfare evolved, from earliest times to 1500 CE

When studying history, military history is the first and most detailed thing that can be retrieved. This is because historically military campaigns have been the tool to shape history, and military hardware is the most easily found historical relics. Military hardware have been designed to be sturdy, and produced in ample quantity because of which they are more likely to survive the years, and to be found during archaeological digs.

Stone Age

The paper is taking the Stone Age as one of the earliest point of military technology evolution to for ease of comparison, and to avoid unintended confusion. This is the time when metal were not used abundantly, and the primary construction material was stone. Stone was used not only in construction, but also as the primary source for weapons. Spear and arrow heads were all designed with stones (Mason, 1986). The military technology during this time revolutionised with the invention of the sling. Not only was the weapon able to throw heavy stones, but was one of the first actual missile weapons of its time. The sling was complemented with the invention of the bow and arrow with was the true missile weapon of its time. These were the force multipliers of their time and changed the way wars were fought. At the start of the Bronze Age, the chariot was the weapon that dominated the battle field, and became the essence of central state armies (such as Egypt) (White, 1985). Archers could ride on the back of the chariot and could shower arrows at the enemy. This made the chariot a very fast and deadly weapon, fast enough to evade infantry, and having ...