Technologies in Warfare Throughout History

[tjdwlgns612]

Hey guys.

So the first actual army was in like what, 3500 B.C.?
What kind of military technologies did they use back then?
When/How did it start to become more advanced?

3500 B.C.... so wheels were invented... maybe chariots were used in the "first war"? I believe it was the Bronze Age by then right?

LOL this is for a project <3 I need to like create a timeline of SOMETHING. So I chose technologies of warfare. Why not?

[Armpit_Sweat]

Made an illustrated timeline for you, should make things pretty clear:

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[Penitent]

Archers, chariots, slings, spears (thrown and melee spears).

From wiki:
2686 BC – 2181 BC (Egyptian Old Kingdom)
"Old Kingdom soldiers were equipped with many types of weapons, including shields, spears, cudgels, maces, daggers, and bows and arrows. The most common Egyptian weapon was the bow and arrow. "  The same types of weapons would be used for a loooong time before and after this time period.

Wiki says chariots were used as early as 3000 BC.

This isn't as far back as you are trying to go though.  What sources do you have that say the 1st armies were 3500 BC?  Which civilization did they belong to?
Babylon was founded 1867 BC
The 1st assyrians were around 2334 BC
Sumeria goes back to about 2900 BC
Early bronze age is 3300 - 2100 BC --- before that it was likely stone weapons...poor bastards.

If we can nail down a culture, we can see what weapons they used....but really they were all probably about the same kinds as listed above!  Those were primitive times.  Everyone had bows (starting around 10,000 BC).  Maces are just glorified clubs, and spears are also prehistoric.  I think going with chariots as a "technology" for this far back may be your best bet!

[tjdwlgns612]

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/gabrmetz/gabr0004.htm

"Armies of Sumer and Akkad" apparently produced the most advanced armies during the Bronze Age.

Thanks Garison, but other than weapons, what kind of other technology might they have used during warfare? I know that the Chinese developed the first "bombs", right? So did they have things like that back then, or was it just filled with chariots, spears, swords, shield, etc.?

[Crazyi]

"Technology is the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to a problem, achieve a goal or perform a specific function."

The question is a little too broad to answer but I can throw some general topics out there. So other than weapons during warfare....... the usage of units and tactics. How they began to train units and organized military.  The hierarchy of early military. Communication on the battlefield and the execution of the orders. 
Outside of combat there are tons of other areas. How they were able to create a surplus of food large enough to maintain professional armies. The logistics of it, etc. All of these technologies had to be created and refined or there would be no military at all.

And yes the Chinese invented gunpowder. I'm not sure if they created bombs with it or not, but I would imagine so.

[Osiris]

http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=3487


surley a culture that can make that can make weapons as for first "war" it depends how you define it. the first battles were no doubt fought shortly after the first social groups were formed

[Penitent]

bombs weren't made that far back...looks like the chinese had it by the 1st century AD though.  However, it isn't widely thought that they used it for warfare until much later than that.  There is a convincing theory that the Chinese invented gunpowder, but it wasn't used for weaponry until it spread to the middle east and Europe.

For technology besides just weapons, you'll want to look at things like metalurgy (bronze weapon forging was a technological advance) and things like the types of bows that used (simple/long bow, recurve bows, composite bows).  These are all bow weapons, but become more advanced as greater technology was available.

[Penitent]

I was just thinking of stirrups, which was a huge battlefield technological advance.  That got me thinking of horses themselves, which can be thought of as warfare technology in a way.  Found this nugget on wiki:

"The invention of the stirrup occurred relatively late in history, considering that horses were domesticated in approximately 4500 BC, and the earliest known saddle like equipment were fringed cloths or pads with breast pads and cruppers used by Assyrian cavalry around 700 BC."

Anyways, good luck on your report!

[Teeth]

Spears, spears, spears, spears, spears, spears and then guns.

[tjdwlgns612]

Awesome, thanks guys!