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

  1. I really appreciate the videos you're making: I'm a historian of the Caucasus by profession, so it makes me very happy to see such a high-quality video to inform people about this sadly neglected part of the ancient world. I'd also very much recommend Antonio Sagona's 'The Archaeology of the Caucasus' as a source, if you don't have it already. Any chance of a video on the Koban Culture in the future?
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  2. Polished axe-head vs. carved axe-head Knapping stone creates razor-sharp edges that bite the wood, more like a metal axe head. The problem with knapped stone is that they have microscopic indentations in which pieces of wood get stuck, overtime this rots and become a place in which humidity accumulates, creating weak points that would cause the entire head to shater. If you touch the edge of a polished axehead, you will immediatly realize it's not "sharp", in fact you can press as hard as you want the edge against your skin and it would left nothing more than a mark. The way these axes "cut" is by causing the wood fibres to break due to the entire preasure accumulating in a very, very small area. These axes can't "bite" into the wood, since they have no sharpness at all. But what they lack in sharpness is what they have plenty of durability, since their surface don't have those indentations in which wood fibre accumulates and rots. In fewer words; Although the knapped axehead is razor sharp, the polished axehead is more reliable and it can last forever if maintained correctly.
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  3. Something to think about that a I realized a while back. The famous and old country song, "Ghost Riders in the Sky," is in many ways describing a type of Wild Hunt. There are obvious Christian overtones, but there is a definite and obvious Indo-European basal nature to it.
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  4. When I lived in New Zealand we would come across wild horses around a place called Waiouru, quite magnificent to see them running free, I have a Hungarian horse bow but alas as close as I've come to a wild horse in the UK was a Tesco's lasagna. šŸ˜¬
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  5. I can definitely see a lot of parallels between the migration of the various "Sea Peoples" and the dispersal of many Germanic, Slavic, and nomadic tribes starting in the 4th century AD that resulted in a similar domino effect with one migrating group displacing another and ultimately overwhelming the Roman Empire.
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  6. Romanian here: I commend you for your independent analysis and thorough understanding of the local, historical conjunctures that forced him to appalling acts that would gain him an ever-lasting notorious fame. Romanians respect and admire him for being a defender of the countryā€™s interests, many even regret a ruler with a strong commitment to defend the simple people against disloyal governances (donā€™t get me wrong, not through impaling, of course).
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  7. I learned recently that dogs form a bond with their favorite human which leads to release of oxytocin in their brains. Thus, a dog feels "love" in the same way that humans do for their partner, and mothers do for their children. This has been experimentally demonstrated. Perhaps our ancient ancestors felt this. On the note of multiple souls, tribes in the Bukidnon province here in Northern Mindanao Philippines traditionally believed in multiple souls. I understand my wife's tribe, the Higaonon, believed that there were seven souls in each person. If some went missing, the person would be ill. If all left, the person died.
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  8. Back when my hair was very very long, I would keep it mostly up in a hair tie, but then saw a video talking about bronze age Scandinavian hairstyles and decided to try out the Bredmose woman's hairstyle (the video called her the Arden Woman), with the two long braids sewn into a crown, and the hairstyle was actually surprisingly very comfortable and sturdy and looked simple and regal! Your video brought a big smile to my face, and the information on something so fascinating to me is definitely something I'll be watching again! Huge greetings from Mexico!
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  9. Vajra, prononunced almost like "vasara" (hammer) in Finnish. It is one of the earliest loan words from PIE in Fenno-Ugrian languages.
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  10. 33 pounds. The whole armor? My work out vest is 40 pounds. This soldier was also carrying a spear a knife an axe, footwear perhaps a sword with any incidentals luck charms, sentimental trinkets. Very strong people.
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  11. people have never stopped trying to get away from their relatives have they?
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  12. Regarding more women surviving the plague than men, women naturally have stronger immune systems than men and usually have a better survival rate from infectious disease. (additionally, auto immune disorders are more common in women.)
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  13. "Hamar" or hammer as a word for cliff is still widely used in Norway today, not just Icelandic. So the connection between hammers and stone is still very much alive. Also, fun fact: "Stein Hammer" (Stone Hammer) is a perfectly valid Scandinavian male name, and there are guys with that name alive now.
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  14. Fantastic work Dan! It's truly astonishing that we know of his great deeds 800 years later. This is the first I've heard of him, keep up the great content!
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  15. I think that the role of children in the development of riding has been ignored. If captured ponies were being used as pack animals or to pull travois, it would not be long before they were used to carry small children, in the same way that burros and asses are commonly used. Everywhere in agricultural societies, you see children astride a variety of domesticated animals (my Philipino nephew was riding water buffalo practically from birth). I suspect that this practice familiarized the horse with the human and the human with the horse in such a way that older and older children remained on the horses until they began to direct them autonomously, rather than just being carried as baggage.
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  16. Mr Davis you raise YouTube to the level of the old history channel before the aliens stuff! Your voice is so impactful, your knowledge runs deep, and your topic choices are so specific and unique. The presentation is magnificent and attention grabbing. I absolutely love your channel and Iā€™m not even into history that much but you make it soooo damn good!
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  17. It's a shame the Bronze Age is so much underrated, underrepresented and overshadowed by the following ancient world in all kinds of media. Although it's obviously a period full of wonders and mysteries! It reminds me of the Paleozoic which doesn't get equal attention as the Mesozoic. Thanks for this wonderful channel!
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  18. Hello everyone, I live a around 10k away from the main El Argar archeological site. It is great to see people bring light to how important and advanced the culture was and how important a piece of history this little and mostly forgotten area of Andalucia has, also having the first settlement from a foreign power a measly 15km or so to the east of El Argar in Villaricos, being first settled by the phoenicians, then conquered by the greek and lastly by the romans. I'd like to use the opportunity to bring your attention to the state of consevation of these incredible sites. The El Argar site is nowadays little more than a few holes in the ground marked with construction tape and used for the dumping of plastics from the greenhouses around it, the phoenician and roman ruins have mostly been built over for tourist apartments while the Los Millares site is actually pretty well kept. It is nice then to see these sites be talked about in the community, seeing how forgotten they are and how little love their remains are kept with even by the people that live here.
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  19. One of the hardest things to do as a historian is keeping the present day from coloring interpretation of poorly/not recorded events/behaviors. I've only met a handful of historians that can even sort of manage it. Unfortunately the stronger your intrests/concerns the more they'll leak in. That, coupled with most of us having a latent desire to not be wrong, leads to some really stupid conflicts in the field. I applaud this video as it manages to present the few facts available and presents possible explanations without backing one or two explanations as fact.
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  20. Spears not being prevalent in the Neolithic is very interesting and also counterintuitive to me given the first hafted weapons in history were flint tipped spears hundreds of thousands of years ago. I have a huge gap in my knowledge between the end of the Ice Age and the start of the Classical Era that you've managed to shrink with your excellent videos. Keep em coming!
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  21. If any story deserves film adaptations it's this one.
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  22. Hey Dan. As I watched the end of the video with the split between the Iranian and Vedic cultures from the Andronovo culture and it made me wonder about something I've thought about for a long while now. It's namely from their beliefs and how they seemed to be opposite of each other. The devas from the Hindu tradition were considered akin to angels, whereas in the Iranian tradition they were evil spirits and I suspect it's from there that we get the word "devil." Likewise, ashuras in Hindu mythology were considered a form of rage-filled demon while Ahura Mazda is the supreme benevolent deity in the Iranian Zoroastrian religion. My guess was that before the split the two cultures were unified, but by around 1600 BCE there was a "schism" that caused the two cultures to split and antagonize each other ever since. Can you make a video delving into this? I'd love to see your findings on this!
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  23. Guy mounts horse Horse: "Wh- what are you doing, steppe bro"
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  24. We are living in unbelievable times. I can watch for hours, for free, in YT quality history documents with captivating story telling and superbly made content. Thank you for sharing your stories with the rest of the world.
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  25. I'll never understand how this channel isn't huge. So so good. One of my few must-watch YouTube channels.
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  26. Every Aegean Bronze Age video you make is a must watch
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  27. The replacement of essentially all of the previously domesticated horses by the Sintashta breed is such an interesting historic phenomenon. While clearly a dominant military force, the Sintashta must have also wielded significant economic power due to the widespread demand for their superior horse breed. Itā€™s definitely a topic I need to do some reading on! Really interesting Dan.
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  28. This short video had more substance than the 51min long documentary I tried to watch made by NOVA before it. Thank you
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  29. Always wondered what prompted the Indo-Europeans to expand over such a vast region over thousands and thousands of years. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best one and it seems the Koryos probably was the driving motivation for such consistent aggression and subjugation, with revolutionary technologies and a good geographic placement encouraging the success of these ancient young men
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  30. William Marshal was certainly the Greatest Knight in English history, and if it wasn't for him then Louis might've succeeded in taking control of England. The course of Human History would have been Drastically different if not for this one man, and that cannot be said of most historical figures.
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  31. Absolutely fantastic! I am getting my Master's Degree in History in Ireland starting this fall, and my tentative research thesis concerns cultural continuity and Medieval use of Neolithic sites.
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  32. I never heard of this before. In fact, many times I learned on this channel about subjects I have never heard about. Which is great!
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  33. I am interested in a full video about the stone tomb complex, that sounds awesome
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  34. Fantastic history telling. I appreciate how you do what an academic anthropologist generally can't get away with--putting these times and people into a narrative form. Even if some, or even half, of your careful, informed speculation ends up being incorrect, you've helped me enormously to contextualize what the heck was going on in these times. I hope other historical world builders take inspiration from you to pursue this kind of 'side job'. Bravo.
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  35. All it takes is a breakout of something as simple as "bed bugs" to make you want to burn-down your house.....
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  36. Another one hit out of the park, Dan. The images are fantastic, and the subject really helps draw me into the world of our ancestors a little more. The blend of history and storytelling is your particular gift, thank you!
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  37. These people are literally the biggest admixture of Northern and Eastern Europeans but you are like the only one that have made a full fact history video about them. Well done and you got a new subscriber.
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  38. Indeed! As a Scandinavian, vikings were simply typical Indo-european warbands bourne by ships rather than horses and wagons, probably as a result of the Scandinavian topography where mountains, seas, rivers, rocks/hills and forests were frequent obstacles unlike the flatness of the eastern European steppes. The cattle raids described by the ancient Irish and Indians are similar examples.
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  39. Definitely one of my pre battle thoughts would be ā€œIā€™d rather die by the sword than be clubbed by that bloody Shillelagh!ā€
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  40. I commented years ago i was injured at work and came across your channel since then mate im glad people have seen and appreciated what research and effort you put into these and your starting to take off. Your passion for history shines through, more power too you pal.
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  41. By the way, just recently a reconstrution of Sintashta chariot was made by a team of researchers from Russia. Also, a couple years ago another team from Greece reconstructed a Sintashta bow. Both are quite complex. Especially interesting that Sintashta chariots are mostly wooden, and wood is a scarce resource in steppe. Also for some elements they used moose antlers - also not the most typical resource in steppe.
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  42. Fascinating and grisly tale. I attended a high school named after Joan of Arc, and it's certainly a (dare I say "refreshing"?) wake-up call to hear her legend more critically assessed. Cheers Mr. Davis, thanks for narrating this story for us.
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  43. I think these figurines aren't only about women having many children, but also men being so successful at hunting they could bring enough calories AND spare their wives of hard physical labor. Walking long distances is only necessary when the current location no longer has enough resources. Good hunting = sedentary lifestyle for women + lots of calories.
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  44. Highly underrated channel. Danā€™s story telling approach to history is so refreshing.
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  45. This would make a stellar Netflix series.
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  46. "Very honoured my bronze axes are going in with the chief, my work will be remembered forever. Let's hope they don't bury a massive, gold, esoteric hat alongside them..." - a Bronze Age blacksmith c. 1600BC
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  47. The battle at Alken Enge in Denmark was around the same time as this one. And it was also a well equipped army vs poor local farmers. A whole generation of local people died in that battle. They can see how many farming fields turned into thick forrest in the decades after the battle. And, we know nothing about the reasons for the battle either. Our local museum have the bones and weapons from the warriors on show.
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  48. Vlad the Impaler is a national hero in Romania
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  49. I love how danā€™s narration. His skill as a fiction writer really helps these documentaries come to light with narrative structure and description
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  50. One of my university lecturers always called hazelnuts the 'trail mix of the stone age'. People loved their hazelnuts
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