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''R.Ewart Oakeshott, The Archaeology of Weapons, 1960'' [OAKESHOTT 1960]<br />

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If one ignores Oakeshott’s [OAKESHOTT 1960] rather short and glib analysis of spears in his seminal work ‘The Archaeology of Weapons’ then you quickly realise that spears follow fashion changes by time and region in much the same way as swords. Although not as glamorous as the sword, the spear was in every sense the definitive weapon of the Viking Age and used as the primary weapon of combat by almost every warrior. Decorated spearheads inlaid with precious metals prove that in the Viking Age spears were not seen as the poor man’s choice and one has only to look at the representations of warriors from the illuminated manuscripts of the era to quickly come to the conclusion that the use of the spear was ubiquitous. Many of the Anglo-Saxon phrases used to describe both battle and warrior help to underline the importance of the spear.<br>

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Numerous Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian sources depict the use of the spear being used one handed in an overarm style.

* Caedmon, æsc-plega, “Spear-bearer” is applied to a soldier. [HEWITT 1996: P.28]

* History of Judith, æsc-plega, “play of spears” used as a term for battle [HEWITT 1996: P.28]

* Codex Extoniensis, æsc-stede, “a field of battle” [HEWITT 1996: P.28]

* Beowolf, Eald æsc-wiga, “some old spear warrior” [HEWITT 1996: P.28]

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>

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== Spearheads ==

* 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]

''The Typologies''<br>

Petersen created the first and still the most used typology of spearheads for the Viking Age in 1919 [PETERSEN 1919]. His typology is based on finds from Norway and includes some types that are rare or nonexistent in Britain. It must be remembered that Petersen was working on dates derived from associated items found along with his spear-heads in Norwegian pagan burials and that he often commented on the difficulty of precisely dating a specific burial find. <br>

Both of these settlement horizons help confirm Petersen’s original typological dating.<br>

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''Reviewing the Evidence'' <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>

Art

Anglo-Saxon art depicts spear heads with one or more lines through the socket.

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66% of the spearheads from Dublin had rivet holes with the hole size usually being between 2 to 3 mm in diameter [HALPIN 2008: p.134]. <br>

An example of Linen being used to help secure a spearhead can be found on a spearhead from Balladoyne in the Isle of Man. This type K spearhead retained traces of a fine linen fabric that had been wrapped twice around the point of the wooden shaft (BJORN and SHETELIG 1940, p.26).<br>

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===Painted===

A spear shaft painted in a single colour.

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

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 ===

Danish bog finds <br>

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== References ==

* [*ANDROSHCHUK and TRAUSTADOTTIR 2004] Androshchuk, Fedir, and Ragnheiður Traustadottir. “A Viking Age spearhead from Kolkuós.” Framvinduskýrsla 6, 2004.