Changes
Spears
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{{Stars2|Category = Weapons}}
{{Quote|style="width: 50%"|- style="text-align: center; color: green; "| ''A spear is a spear whether it is of the''<br>''middle Bronze Age or the nineteenth century;''<br>''there is little room for variation'' <br>''and the same shapes of spearhead'' <br>''crop up in every age and in every land.''<br>|R.Ewart Oakeshott, The Archaeology of Weapons, 1960 <br>[OAKESHOTT 1960]<br>}}
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Manuscript drawings tend to be stylised and often copied older templates. Spears are depicted often and most warriors are seen to be carrying them. Unfortunately the spearheads are usually shown as a simple arrow shape which bears no resemblance to the actual spearheads found in archaeology.<br>
We do have a number of depictions of spears from stone sculptures in Britain. The carving of Christian stone crosses became popular in northern England in the 10th and 11th centuries [RICHARDS 2004: P.214].<br>
Paul Hill points out that the term æsc is only used to refer to large two-handed, long bladed weapons used by a high status warrior [HILL 2004: p.65]. He then goes on to argue that the term geir was more commonly used.<br>
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== Spearheads ==
[[File:Spears-types.png|thumb|Terms for spearhead components]]
* England. So far I have identified 45 spearhead finds from England. 20 are of type K/M or M. 7 others are of winged form.
* Wales. 2 finds [REDKNAP 2000:p.53-54]
* Iceland. 81 spearheads have been found dating from the Viking Age. They have been found in 56 graves and 22 spearheads have been registered as stray finds. 40 spearheads belong to type K, 3 to type G, 2 to type H, 3 to type I and 1 to type E. The remainder are probably of local manufacture and do not sit easily within Petersen’s typology.[ANDROSHCHUK and & TRAUSTADOTTIR 2004] ''' |Discussion '''<br>=
Most spearhead finds dated from 800AD to 1100AD in Britain are single discoveries often from rivers and are dated by their form against Petersen’s typology. <br>
We do however have a few graves in Scotland, the Isle of Man and northern England. Unfortunately most of these were excavated in the 19th Century with only basic notes about the burials being recorded. To make things even worse many of the spearheads from this era have ended up in private collections or have become ‘lost’. Haakon Shetelig [BJORN & SHETELIG 1940] has helped us here by compiling a series of books of Viking Age finds from England and Scotland. These books list all of the known finds up to 1940 including some that are now lost.<br><br>}}
==== Categorising spears, javelins and arrows ====
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[[File:Spears.png|thumb|Spear Typology]]
== Spearhead typology ==
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Two settlements from Europe can be used to help corroborate Petersen’s typological dating, Iceland and the town of Birka in Sweden. Both have clear datable horizons that help us to place spearheads into clearly dated periods. <br>
Iceland was probably settled c.874AD and out of the 81 spearheads dated to the Viking Age from Iceland only one falls into Thalin’s group 1. All of the others are from his groups 2 and 3 (K x40, G x3, H x2, I x2, E x1, Unclassified x33) [ANDROSHCHUK and & TRAUSTADOTTIR 2004: P.6]. <br>
The settlement at Birka came to an end around c.960AD. No spearheads of K/M or M types were found there, which would help confirm a late dating for these sometimes decorated spearheads. [FUGLESANG 1980: P.33] <br>
Both of these settlement horizons help confirm Petersen’s original typological dating.<br>
==== Leaf shaped heads ====
'''Thålin Group 1'''<br>
Leaf shaped heads, Petersen types A(B), C(D1) and E, seem to go out of fashion by 950AD [PETERSEN 1919]. Other people have suggested that a few leaf shaped heads may have continued throughout the period [*Citation Needed].
==== Angular shaped heads with short sockets====
'''Thålin Group 2'''<br>
Group 2 consists of Petersen types D:2, G and H. They are all types with edge shoulders placed low on the blade and a short conical socket with marked narrowing below the blade.<br>
Fuglesang includes the winged spears of Petersens type D2 in with this group as he removed wings as a determinant of typology making Petersens D2 and G types the same. See the section on ‘Winged Spears’ for examples of D2 style spear heads.<br>
====Angular spearheads with long sockets ====
'''Thålin Group 3'''<br>
Group 3 consists of Petersen types F, I, K & M. They are all types with a narrow blade which is often shouldered and a socket that is long, narrow and conical.<br>
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==Angons==
'''Petersen type ‘L’ spearheads'''<br>
[[File:R211.jpg|thumb|100x150px|left]]
A 3 foot long metal shaft with twin barbs mounted on a wooden shaft. <br>
A Frankish weapon used in a similar way to the Roman pilum and in fashion between the 5th to mid 8th century. It was designed to be thrown at the enemy’s shield. The iron shaft would hen bend and the weight of the angon would pull the enemy’s shield down. [THOMPSON 2004: p.52-53].<br>
A similar weapon is Petersen’s type L spear. The primary difference is that whereas the Angon was socketed, Petersen’s Norwegian spears were tanged. Two types are described. The earlier barbed form is more numerous and dated to the first half of the C9th. Petersen could only cite 2 examples of the later type which dates to the mid C10th. This form’s head is more triangular in shape and is not barbed. [PETERSEN 1919]<br>
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Lugged spear-heads of this kind, sometimes referred to as the Carolingian type, are common from Viking contexts from the 9th century onwards, both in Scandinavia and England, but the most recent studies cautiously point out that it can no longer be regarded as exclusively Scandinavian in character.
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<gallery>
File:Spears-decoration III.png|Type III Estonia
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== Spear butts ==
Also known as a shoe or ferrule. It appears that generally spear butts were not used during the Viking period. An exception to this is those found in Ireland.
{{Evidence|
|Art
|Literature
|Archaeology=
* Ireland, Kilmaniham-Islandbridge. [GRAHAM-CAMPBELL 1989:p.25]
|Discussion
}}
== Spear shafts ==
=== Woods used ===
=== Attaching the spearhead ===
Anglo-Saxon manuscripts only show spear shafts as a thin black line. Some Western European manuscripts depict thicker shafts filled in a single colour.
* Life of St Aubin, Angers Abbey c.1100AD
|Literature
|Archaeology
|Discussion =
Currently we have no evidence for spear shafts being painted in more than one colour from the Viking Age.<br>
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=== Carved Spear Shafts===''' Discussion Spear shafts that have been carved for decorative effect'''<br>Currently we have no evidence for spear shafts being painted in more than one colour from the Viking Age.<br>{{Evidence||Art|Literature|Archaeology* Danish bog finds|Discussion}}
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=== Carved shaftsUsing spears one-handed with a center gripped shield=={{Evidence||Art=''' Numerous Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian sources depict the use of the spear being used one handed in an over arm style.|Literature|Archaeology '''<br>Danish bog finds <br>|Discussion = Probably the most common weapon in use during the Viking Age. }}
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== See Also References ==[[Catalogue of spearheads found in England]]<br>{{Ref|Book=Androshchuk & Traustadottir 2004}}[[Javelins]]<br>{{Ref|Book=Bjorn & Shetelig 1940}}[[Angons]]<br>{{Ref|Book=Fuglesang 1980}}<br>{{Ref|Book=Graham-Campbell 1980}}{{Ref|Book=Graham-Campbell 1989}}{{Ref|Book=Halpin 2008}}{{Ref|Book=Hewitt 1855}}{{Ref|Book=Hill 2004}}{{Ref|Book=Kendrick 1949}}{{Ref|Book=Lang 1981}}{{Ref|Book=Magi-Lougas 1994}}{{Ref|Book=Oakeshott 1960}}{{Ref|Book=Petersen 1919}}{{Ref|Book=Pollington 2006}}{{Ref|Book=Redknap 2000}}{{Ref|Book=Richards 2004}}{{Ref|Book=Siddorn 2005}}{{Ref|Book=Swanton 1973}}{{Ref|Book=Thompson 2004}}{{Ref|Book=Westphal 2006}}{{Ref|Book=Wheeler 1927}}{{Ref|Book=Wheeler 1935}}
<HarvardReferences />
[[Category:Weapons]]