Hearted Youtube comments on Dan Davis History (@DanDavisHistory) channel.

  1. Thank you, patreon people, for supporting this great site. I would if I could.
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  2. As a child, I rode horses bareback and used my knees and the horses' manes to transmit commands. I often use a halter instead of a bridle. I have seen people giving commands to horses with their feet while standing up on them and also using clucking sounds. A wild horse can be trained for basic riding in less than a month. Surely modern horses, even wild ones, probably have traits selected over time by humans that makes training easier. I suspect, however, that those traits were always there in some horses. While I doubted it until I saw it, there is the phenomenon of the horse whisperer. I wonder how that could have played into the domestication of horses to allow riding them. There's something special between some people and some horses.
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  3. Great video Dan. Werewolf myths are definitely founded in these IE traditions and ceremonies
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  4. First "professional" warriors could have been "second sons". When father died, 1 adult son inherited the wealth and the other one was given a weapon to sent to world to earn his wealth. It was more practical then splitting the heard and make both sons poorer than their father or giving it all to one and leaving the other one sour and potentially cause trouble.
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  5. I honestly wish more authors would do this, can you imagine all the information they've gathered? Storytelling is a practice as old as humans themselves, they are our teachers who devoted themselves to preserving and retelling stories. Sure it may not all be that way in 2021, but videos and channels like this I feel give homage to that concept 💯💕 Side note: I have not heard of this author or his works, this randomly popped up in my feed. I'm glad it did tho, I'm now very curious to explore his novels!
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  6. Hey Davis - I'm really enjoying your work. It's crazy that you've got less than 8k subscribers at this point. Don't give this up, keep this content coming. I'm a fiend for it and I know I'm not alone. The algorithm will catch up to you in due time.
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  7. I'd say that once horses started being domesticated for food that's when the riding began. It's a natural progression of human thought. Human wants to sit on rock, stone or log as opposed to ground. Here's a seemingly docile animal right next to me about hip height, I'll indulge my curiosity or your dare and see what happens if I do this.
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  8. Part of my family is from this part of Croatia. I know we always had pirates around there, but had no clue it went back all the way to the bronze age. Also never heard about Makarska hoard before. Thank you! I love learning about my ancestors history. Would like to hear more about bronze age in Croatia, east Adriatic and the Balkans
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  9. I come from a more linguistic background so it's absolutely fascinating to have a channel like yours flesh out the culture and customs of people like the PIE's but other prehistoric peoples as well. Love your videos!
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  10. I've been asking historians for a video about these guys forever and ever and ever and now you finally did one thank you I tell everyone the oldest civilizations in Europe not the Middle East
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  11. I'll take the cuckoo clock culture any day over being under the Borgias.
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  12. We should never assume that political or social hierarchies cannot exit without physical structures. The central spaces in the middle of the settlements were empty for a reason....there may have been temporary ceremonial structures erected there, most certainly some kind of organized pagentry. Who knows what kind of social and political issues were expressed there. Or it could have been a huge corral to keep cattle safe each night...
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  13. Thanks for the video. It was a fascinating watch. Thanks also in particular for pointing out details like the high standard of evidence at the time in courts and how legally difficult it was to prove cases of witchcraft. People today are apt to think that there was little due process or extremely biased courts back then, when in fact it was the determined legal shenanigans of the accusers that caused much injustice. A skilled and heartless lawyer today can oppress the poor and marginalized on whatever flimsy pretext. I'm sure many modern prosecutors make a decent income that way.
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  14. Bingeing the paleolithic content at the moment. More please.
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  15. Last time I was this early, it was the pre-pottery neolithic.
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  16. Best historical content produced these days. Even light years beyond what history channel used to produce before they jumped the shark with their hocus pocus shows
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  17. Brings to mind what they always said of the close connection between sex, death and violence.
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  18. Yeah. Good point Magnus Itland. I am also skeptical of the narrative that western civilization is a byproduct of the ancient Near East, then Greece, then Rome, then rest of Europe. There seems to be a misconception that whoever was the most advanced civilization at a point in history, must be the foundation for all future civilizations. So it seems some people think because the Near East civilization was the most advanced in the Bronze age, must mean all later civilizations in Western Eurasia come from it. Videos like this from Dan Davis, help us see some of the basic innovations (specifically professional military) which western civilization grew from, already existed in Bronze age Europe.
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  19. Would you consider doing a Part 2, looking at Middle Palaeolithic (i.e., Neanderthal) & Upper Palaeolithic diets? This was a supremely interesting topic!
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  20.  @DanDavisHistory  absolutely. Even today people will collect, sell and recycle scrap metal. And it could only have been more valuable to recycle it back in those days. It's curious to think that some miniscule part of my ancestors old copper axe can be in the electronics of the computer I'm writing this on, or the transmission lines for the power I'm charging it with.
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  21. Best bronze age content on the platform.
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  22. Oh what an unexpected surprise! And a topic close to home too, he said from the south eastern coast of Sweden ^^
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  23. I love these sorts of videos. The neolithic, copper age, and bronze age is largely ignored outside of maybe ancient Egypt and even then mostly centers around their pyramids, similar major infrastructure projects, and their ability to summon aliens to do their bidding. The rest of the world seems to be completely forgotten and the major technological advances and shifts in society and culture, such as the rise of a warrior class and advent of large scale warfare is forgotten about.
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  24. Superbly researched. It made me smile when you said "Gold cups fit for a king". George V used the Rillaton early Bronze Age cup as a shaving mug before it was 'rediscovered'...which sort of fits the sponsor of the video too.
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  25. Great video and I really want to thank you for leaving the death details out. There is no point and at least for me, I find it repulsive enough that the horrific deeds were done. Don't think this kind of behavior has stopped either. It's still with us.
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  26. The man couldnt have been ill, weak and old. He was found at 3000m. Most perfectly healthy young men can‘t walk up that far.
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  27. Thank you so much for your hard work, Dan. Your videos are especially relevant for the quotes you give from ancient texts, like this one 0:13 "From the city of Nipur an inscription on the pedestal of a statue erected by Sargon, says the following, 'Sargon, king of Akkad, overseer of Inanna, king of Kish, anointed of Anu, king of the land, governor of Enlil, he defeated the city of Uruk and tore down its walls. In the battle of Uruk he won, took Lugal Zaghezy, king of Uruk, in the course of the battle and led him in a collar to the gate of Enlil.'"
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  28. I come from a fucked up country were stray dogs run the streets in gangs. They are always hurt and needing help so I made a habit of adopting whichever dog came my way in need and had something between 3 to 6 dogs at all times growing up. I love them beyond almost anything else. I also had to kill many of the worst injured ones. The worst was one I had to kill with a machete, which was the only weapon available at the time for me. I was 13. I am 38 now and I never forgot it. Another bad one was one that looked in my eyes and feebly waggled its tail while I aimed the rifle at its head. Both died quickly but it was little comfort to me. I have had killed at least 6 dogs for similar incurable wounds or diseases.I cannot even imagine doing that to a dog you raised and that is perfectly healthy. Powerful rite indeed. It made me stronger though. Just the other day I came across a young seagull in a parking lot with a compound fracture on the wing that was festered and rotting and smelling bad already. I ended its suffering with my bare hands. Tough as always, but I never lost the ability do do hard things when inevitable. Like they say, some things either make you or break you. Excellent content as always Dan. Keep up the good work. And go work on those books, I cannot wait for the next issue of the tale of Herkulos. Cheers
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  29. There is an expression, a figure of speech, if you will, in English, that is “ to take up the cudgel” in other words to prepare for a fight or battle. That expression is likely to be very very old.
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  30. I've known about the Japanese myth of Orochi, an eight headed serpent slain by the storm God, Susa-no-o for decades but somehow, only made the connection to the other similar myths a few years ago. It blew my mind. While the myth is ancient, it isn't likely native to Japan. It was probably imported in the first few hundred years of the first millennium AD through contact with the Chinese who spread religious concepts from India. And so we have our proto-indo-european connection, all the way in Japan, so often isolated through history.
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  31. This channel sometimes feels a little...'tenuous', based on decision to keep writing novels. That's Not a criticism, any # of channels come & go for all reasons. Not to mention the time spent on book promotion could not be more minimal. Overall I find it unique in terms of the pre-historical content. It withholds some of the more "flashy" production with focus on a more casual delivery, which nevertheless gives the sense of containing an in-depth understanding. aka, thanks!
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  32. This is wonderful! I knew the Yamnaya had "a" mine, if not several, but had no photos or film footage or even a diagram of what the layout might actually look like. I hope sites like this survive the present war.
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  33. I was unfamiliar with the claim about copper being transported from North America to Europe in Prehistory. From a logistical standpoint it seems next to impossible for the time period. Thanks for the fascinating video. Bronze Age mining and economics tend to be ignored in favour of more enticing topics like warfare, but without understanding how technology was made and how it impacted society you can't really get the full picture with regards to war. The fact that the people of the Bronze Age steppe (the Yamnaya) were already capable of making an iron dagger centuries before the official start of the Iron Age is an interesting topic in of itself.
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  34. Can you make a video on the Ötzi the Iceman? There is some new research on his body and his story. Thank you for the work!
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  35. This channel has some of the very best historical content on YouTube! Thank you for your incredible work Dan Davis!
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  36. A theory of pastoralism for Eastern HG: The EHGs abducted women (as you do), who knew how to take care of the animals. Bride stealing has been pretty common (practically universal) between neighboring peoples of different subsistence strategies, and once the woman has children, it is in her interest for her new community to prosper. When the practice of bride abduction is ongoing for generations, it becomes normalized in both cultures, and it is not unusual for "stolen" brides to achieve high status in their new communities. This sort of thing happened as recently as the 19th century in the American West. There is a very good book, "Empire of the Summer Moon", about Quanah Parker, a Comanche leader whose mother was a white abductee. I recommend it. The book, not bride stealing.
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  37. Also, especially since you mentioned the Comanche, early horse warriors could have used horses to transport themselves to the site of battle, dismount to fight, then remount and ride away, rather than fighting from the saddle like you see in later cavalry developments. The Comanche used horses in this way on their infamous raids rather than fight from the saddle, and this is possibly how horses were used early on
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  38. Freyr, in his role as a fertility god, is also often represented with an erect phallus. As well as the obvious reasons for such, there is also the interesting concept of his relation to an older period in Nordic culture. It has often been theorised that the Vanir (Freyr, Freya, Njordr etc.) and the Aesir (Odin, Thor etc.) going to war, may be as a result of newer ideas entering into the Nordic sphere. The clash of a more warlike ideology in the Aesir, with the more Naturally based Vanir. The Aesir won out, perhaps resulting in the warrior based culture we are familiar with in 'Vikings', ahead of perhaps the hunter and pastoral culture of the past. But Freyr's appearance, and the appearances of the men in these petroglyphs, may point out a period in which fertility symbols associated with masculinity, combined with the warlike nature of the scenes may convey a time where these ideologies were in transition.
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  39. Great in-depth analysis on this, and a great supplement to your original Neolithic Britain documentary, along with the previous upload on the Amesbury Archer. I wonder if these structures represented syncretism between the WHG & EEF cultures; I see some of the artwork (which was especially good in this video) showcases leaders or ritual specialists of sorts wearing antler headdresses, which also makes me think of the apparent selection for, and preservation of, WHG lineages elsewhere in the British Isles (Ireland, if I'm not mistaken, and maybe elsewhere as well?).
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  40. As I read this again, there is a staggering similarity between Sirius (Garmr) called LOKABRENNA in Iceland and Sirius (Sharvara) in India. "Sharvara is identified with the constellation Canis Major, the other dog with Canis Minor, together they guard the gates of the netherworld, known as PITRILOKA or vaivasvataloka, which is the domain of Yama. Pitriloka means "land of the forefathers" (patrilocal?!). This reminds me of the old idea that the enlightened souls of the ancestors are the stars in the sky.
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  41. The Vinča culture is unique and very interesting. Thank you for the video.
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  42. Funny thing is that the Weald is pretty much still as you described it being... Just with more ale houses, and better roads to work as a highway man on!
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  43. The Maasai in East Africa have similar child-bands... so it's possible that such organizations are a natural result of the nomadic lifestyle, and not specifically inherited from the Yamnaya.
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  44. My grandparents were survivors of Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-1933. Horrible times, cannibalism was reported during Holodomor. A sort of Endocannibalism as you say. Desperate conditions of living, a struggle to survive make people to resort to a desperate measure in the middle of 20th century. So our Neolithic ancestors had their ups and downs as well.
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  45. Another fascinating video Dan. I would be very interested in learning more about the stone tomb complex. Please consider doing a full video on it. I was unaware that the Soviets had destroyed so many of the mounds. Very sad to learn of so much cultural destruction.
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  46. Interesting to consider how the varying levels of assimilation [of genes, languages, mores, traditions, and knowledge] between the three European founder populations (HGs, EEFs, and Steppe Conquerers) would eventually coalesce/maturate into the great Indo-European civilizations of subsequent epochs. These events were truly transformational. Those early Bronze Age populations would never have imagined how monumentally impactful their interactions with one another would turn out to be.
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  47. He was ruthless and often brilliant.
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  48. It's really amazing looking back on these far periods of history. Our recent history as a civilization has massive, world changing events happening on a decade-by-decade basis, or even sooner. Even in the early modern period you had countries rising and falling in power in as little as a century; see Sweden as an example. But these periods of history that one may consider a mythic age lasted for as long, or longer than the time between us and the birth of Christ. What stories have we lost? What history was forgotten? Were there kingdoms? Wars? Heroes and villains? What stories did they tell each other. What explorers dared venture forth and bring back tales of far off lands? Sadly we have lost this information, and probably will never know. Something to mourn, I think.
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  49. Wow, I knew that dress style was popular in Minoan civilization, but I didn't know it extended to the broader Greek Aegean and the Mycenaeans as a whole.
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  50. With a narrators voice like that I want to hear you talk about "all" the people's of the bronze age. Please sir may I have another??
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