The Bannockburn Bodkin find ?
Does anyone know where the arrowhead find at Bannockburn will be permanently displayed ?
Stirling Castle maybe ? Thanks, Mac
You can read an article about it at this link HERE
That's a cool find. Poor Edward II just never had a chance between his father, wife, and son. Oh yeah those Scots were pretty tenacious too :lol:
The National Trust had written this .....
http://www.nts.org.uk/web/site/home/press/Importantbattlefind.asp
but I'm still unclear where the piece will be housed ? Stirling Castle seems the logical place, but I dunno ?

Mac
Mac-

At the bottom of the first posting is a link to the Bannocburn Heritage Centre - on that link, it states hours and that the center hosts a collection "Archaeology, Weapons and War" but whether the bodkin will be included or if it is elsewhere, it doesn't say. I went on to the site's webpage, and it mentions the find there, but again, no mention of where it is now.

They have a phone number and a fax number, but no email.
Thanks for looking, Aaron .... much appreciated !

Slàinte, Mac



"We fight not for glory, nor for wealth, nor honour but only and alone we fight for freedom which no good man surrenders but with his life" - Robert the Bruce

No prob, Mac - wish I would have found something that was actually useful. :\

Looking further into this, it seems this is the only weapon found. For a battlefield, this seems a bit odd... I would most certainly assume that there were thousands fired. Am I missing something here? I'm not knocking the artifact, mind you, just wondering if it is quite as significant as the articles made it out to be? Could easily have been one dropped, fired at an annoying animal (or for food - tell me a starving soldier would hesitate to shoot game with a combat round?).
Aaron Schnatterly wrote:
No prob, Mac - wish I would have found something that was actually useful. :\

Looking further into this, it seems this is the only weapon found. For a battlefield, this seems a bit odd... I would most certainly assume that there were thousands fired. Am I missing something here? I'm not knocking the artifact, mind you, just wondering if it is quite as significant as the articles made it out to be? Could easily have been one dropped, fired at an annoying animal (or for food - tell me a starving soldier would hesitate to shoot game with a combat round?).


Hi Aaron

Yeah it does seem odd ?
I've little knowledge of what has been done around that site, archaeology-wise, thru the last few centuries ?
But knowing the Scots good sense of frugality (as they 'd won the battle) they probably would have picked up every scrap of metal and used it for the next frey, leaving nothing but the heather behind ;-)

Mac
Thomas McDonald wrote:
Yeah it does seem odd ?
I've little knowledge of what has been done around that site, archaeology-wise, thru the last few centuries ?
But knowing the Scots good sense of frugality (as they 'd won the battle) they probably would have picked up every scrap of metal and used it for the next frey, leaving nothing but the heather behind ;-)


... and I have almost no info, so I was really just being "Devil's Advocate", as it were. Continuing on that path...

Of course the spoils go to the winner, and I won't argue the practicality of frugality, but digging up all the ones whose shafts were stepped on and broken beneath the ground? Even if 1/1000 were lost and not recovered, that would still leave dozens behind...

I'm still not convinced this is proof-positive of which field the battle took place. Still, though... it's a great find! Hopefully, we can find more info.
Now that's an interesting question... how much is left at any ancient battle site? Agincourt? Crecy? Poitiers? Hattin? Have masses of artifacts been found at any of these or similar sites?
At some, definitely. At all? Not positive. I would assume yes, but when and was it ever documented may be a totally different story.

Let's look into it.

Given the huge number of bolt heads and arrow heads floating around for sale, they aren't terribly uncommon.

In fairness, I don't know much about any of the rest of the archaeological history of the site. Was there other evidence turned up? Encampment, perhaps?
you would think with the masses of arrows slung across the battlefield that this would be a common insignificant find compared to finding say a sword or axe head...a small arrow head doesnt really inspire like the find of more prominent weapons. Especially when the arrow is likely a english arrow...

But after this time in the wet of bannockburn i dont think much would survive...but hey go for a feild trip with a metal detector :lol:
Thirty thousand of the English are estimated to have fallen upon the field of Bannockburn. Of barons and bannerets there were slain twenty-seven, and twenty-two were taken prisoners; and of knights the number killed was forty-two, while sixty were made prisoners. Barbour affirms that two hundred pairs of gilt spurs were taken from the heels of slain knights. According to English historians the most distinguished among those who fell, were the Earl of Gloucester:, Sir Giles d’Argentine, Robert Clifford, Payen Tybelot, William le Mareschah, and Edmund de Manley, seneschal of England. Seven hundred esquires are also reckoned among the number of the slain. The spoil of the English camp was great; and large sums also must have accrued from the ransom of so many noble prisoners. If we may believe the statement of the monk of MaImsbury, a contemporary English writer, the loss sustained by his countrymen on this occasion did not amount to less than two hundred thousand pounds; a sum equal in value to upwards of three millions of our present currency. The loss sustained by the Scots is allowed on all hands to have been very inconsiderable; and the only persons of note slain were Sir William Vipont and Sir Walter Ross. The last named was the particular friend of Edward Bruce, who, when informed of his death, passionately exclaimed, "Oh that this day’s work was undone, so Ross had not died." On the day after the battle, Mowbray surrendered the castle of Stirling, according to the terms of the truce, and thenceforward entered into the service of the king of Scotland.
http://electricscotland.com/history/bruce/part5.htm

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