IIn this paper after a thorough critical review of existing theories about mobility, we try to put together a new, original theoretical and methodological perspective that integrates the kaleidoscopic range of human movement in ancient and modern times and by what means archaeologists should be able to track it and interpret its motivations. These insights are applied to a preliminary assessment of a much studied class of bronze swords that has been at the centre of a rich international debate on mobility during the Late Bronze Age.