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There's some interesting stuff on this topic in Xantener Berichte 16, Waffen in Aktion, ROMEC XVI (published 2009).
I'm only able to read the book very slowly due to a rather busy time at work, but in particular the article by S. James, 'The point of the sword: what Roman-era weapons could do to bodies - and why they often didn't' (p.41-54) in particular has some interesting bits, although overall I'd rather he had written more than the space allowed.
T. Fischer also does a frustratingly brief introduction on "Kampfspuren" (traces of combat) on buildings, weapons, armour and bodily remains (ibid. p.1-9).
Overall, my impression so far is that the work is quite interesting, but frustratingly brief on interesting aspects - partly, as the acknowledge, because more studies have been done on typology than effect of weapons under scientific circumstances, due, in part to a supposed (?) reluctance of the academe to get involved with the more gory bits, and in part because it's a tad illegal to do the experiment for real...
Will keep people updated as I go, if there is an interest.
M. Caecilius M.f. Maxentius - Max C.
Qui vincit non est victor nisi victus fatetur
- Q. Ennius, Annales, Frag. XXXI, 493
Secretary of the Ricciacus Frënn (
http://www.ricciacus.lu/)
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I must have been unclear. I said that I thought the physics of projectiles are relatively easy, but the physics of cuts are hard (because the wielder provides a constantly changing force from the moment that the weapon strikes to the moment it leaves the target) and that I didn't know if there was any simple way to model the different factors. One problem with Gabriel and Metz is that they assumed they could use "average weapon speed squared times weapon mass over 2 equals kinetic energy" for cuts which is a big underestimate of the energy that a trained fighter can deliver.
I agree that human variability is a big problem. It probably matters more for cuts than thrusts or archery. The other problem with Gabriel and Metz is that they only tested one person and used him to represent all fighters in all situations. The Peter Connolly study on spear effectiveness also used very few subjects and doesn't explain things like how they generated power for their strikes.
If I am in Europe next year for grad school maybe we could talk about getting an interdisciplinary project together. An engineer, a classicist who can fence and program and do calculus, and a third person who is very good at cutting would make a good team.
Nullis in verba
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have
a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.