Concentration/number of weapon types in the pre-and immidiate migration period.

[Watchman]

...also it seems to the Anglo-Saxons whom did not adopt it until the 10th and 11th cens.

The Byzantines picked it up from the Avars already in what, 8th century. That it took so long for it to be adopted in western Europe (which was in contact with Byzantine influences along the Mediterranean coast), despite the rising importance of heavy cavalry from Carolingian times onwards, makes for one pretty strong argument against the (already long discredited anyway) "stirrup myth" IMO.

[Incongruous]

So no one can actually give me any info on what I have put foreward?
Oh well, perhaps off to the .net.

[Watchman]

No idea about the pre-Migration period, but I'm pretty sure northern Germany only became famous for some arms-production centers by the Middle Ages. The chronic instability of the region during the Roman period (with all those tribes wandering towards the limes in search of fortune) ought not have made for very solid industrial base or all that much material wealth overall.

Of course, the Baltic region still had a fair bit of valuable stuff to export - amber, furs, walrus ivory etc. - and the people who could tap that trade could of course get pretty rich indeed, duly allowing them to aquire various luxury items (including swords) from quite far away.

Insofar I'm aware of the basic "grunt" of the Migrations Germanic armies was the humble spearman (an axe and/or long knife would have made a cheap and effective sidearm; the pattern repeats with the Vikings), swords and such being the purview of the wealthy elite (and lucky looters) for purely economic reasons already. Indeed, by what I've read of it, even more complex and impressive types of spear, such as the long-shanked angon throwing-spear (extremely similar to the contemporary Roman spiculum, which had replaced the old pilum), were something of "prestige weapons" only the better-equipped warriors had.

[Incongruous]

Well, I am pretty certain that there was a greater concentration of swords in the area. Massive amounts have been dredged up from Denmark which are not of Norse origin (apparently, but again not having primary souces on finds makes it tricky to verify.) So having even more readings on such things is needed.

I shall continue to search through my uni data base.
Thanks for the great discussion, Watchman and Fisherking.

[Fisherking]

I have tried tapping some German sources…but with limited luck, as my German is not the best.

But even there I run into the same melding of Celtic/German to the point that you can hardly tell who is who. It is such a cloudy time and moving people leave little record of a material culture. I think that most of what we have is more educated guess work than conclusive evidence of who was where, let alone what they had.

The easiest place to start might be with Gothland…we know where they came from and should have some indication what their material culture was around the time they started to move, especially since not everyone left…