The catalogue follows Thålin groups and then subdivided by Petersen's [PETERSEN 1919] types. Winged spearheads have been ground together in their own section and also include finds from outside of Britain.
Each entry consists of the following components:
- Find Location
- Find Type: Grave, Hoard, River or Stray
- Current location
- Dimensions (if known)
- Any other information
- Bibliography of other published references.
Dimensions are given where known and can be stated in either imperial or metric measurements. Reference is sometimes made to Rygh types. Rygh’s [RYGH 1885] book illustrates examples of many pre-historic objects from Norway. These are designated as R.xxx where xxx is Rygh’s figure number.
Thålin Group 1
Leaf-shaped Spearheads (Pre 900AD)
Petersen Types A-E
Group 1 consists of Petersen types A, B, C, D1 and E. They are all types with a lancoid blade and gradual transition from socket to blade.
Petersen Type D1
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England, Cambridgeshire, Braham's Farm
- Current Location- ?
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- In remarkably good state of preservation. The blade is damascened, and the socket richly inlaid with silver, copper and ornaments of gold.
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.64] [PEARSON 1981:cat.D6]
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England, London, Wandsworth
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927:fig.12-1]
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England, Yorkshire, River Ouse
- Current Location- Yorkshire Museum
- Dimensions-
- Total- L: 43.4 x W: 5.2cm
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [PENDLESONN 1980] [PEARSON 1981:cat.D16] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.93]
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England, Yorkshire, River Ouse
- Current Location- British Museum
- Dimensions-
- Total- L: 62.2cm (24.5” long x 2.5” wide)
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Grave Find. Type C-D, C9th. Affixed to a wooden shaft by a brass pin
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.15]
- The Archaeological Journal VIII p.424-425
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Petersen Type E
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England, Hertfordshire, Nazing
- Current Location- ?
- Dimensions-
- Total- L.249mm x W.21mm
- Blade- L.? x W.? x T.7mm
- Socket- broken (under 20mm diamter)
- This socketed spear-head has a well-preserved blade, but very corroded and broken socket. Dated by Petersen to the 8th and 9th centuries
- Bibliography- [MORRIS 1983]
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England, London, Thames
- Current Location- ?
- Dimensions-
- Total- L.249mm x W.21mm
- Blade- L.? x W.? x T.7mm
- Socket- broken (under 20mm diamter)
- Fuglesang has suggested that this spear resembles a type E spear.
- Bibliography- [FUGLESANG 1980:p.139] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.84 f.48]
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Thålin Group 2
Angular Spearheads with Short Sockets (950-1075AD)
Petersen Types D2, G & H
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.
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.
It has also been suggested by Fuglesang and Petersen that type G spearheads without wings may be of eastern origin with the majority of finds coming from Sweden and Finland. A few decorated type G spears have been found with Urnes style decoration.
Petersen Type G
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England, London, Thames at Hampton Court
- Current Location- London Museum
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- possible mouldings at base of blade
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:P.85] [WHEELER 1927:P.28 Fig.12.2]
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England, London, Walthamstow
- Current Location- London Museum
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:P.85] [WHEELER 1927:P.28 Fig.12.3]
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Petersen Type H
In most ways the same as type G except for the moulding at the base of the blade.
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England, Cambridgeshire, Soham
- Current Location- University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Fine spear-head of the late Viking type R.523, with a moulding at the base of the blade
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:P.64 Fig.33]
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England, Cambridgeshire, Ely
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Spear-head of the type R. 523, of about 1000AD
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:P.64]
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England, Cambridgeshire, River Cam at Dimmock's Cote nr. Upware
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:P.69] [WOV:cat.1242]
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No Picture
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England, Lincolnshire, River Witham at Lincoln
- Current Location- City and County Museum of Lincoln
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:P.99]
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Thålin Group 3
Angular Spearheads with Long Sockets from Britain (840-1100AD)
Petersen types F, I, K & M
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.
Fuglesang has studied the K & M types of spearhead that are decorated in Ringerike designs. Due to difficulty in determining the exact typology of many of these spearheads she has introduced a new K/M type that falls between those of Petersens K and M [FUGLESANG 1980].
Petersen Type F
Type F spearheads generally have a length of 30-60cm with most being between 50-60cm. Petersen classes this a very numerous type in Norway [PETERSEN 1919].
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England, Cumberland, Hasket-in-Forest, near Carlisle
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total- 11” long
- Blade-
- Socket-
- It has 6 pairs of close set rings each with a pair of rivet holes. I consider this to be a transitional type between F and I like those from Bruhaugen in Norway [PETERSEN 1919: Fig. 16] and Sodermanland in Sweden.
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.20 item c]
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England, Oxfordshire, River Thames
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Small spearhead R529
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.59]
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Petersen Type I
The socket commonly has 11 pairs of holes originally with bronze rivets. Some have up to 15 pairs of holes. Petersen classes these as not numerous in Norway [PETERSEN 1919].
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England, Cumberland, Hasket-in-Forest, near Carlisle
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total- 17 5/8” long with its tip missing.
- Blade-
- Socket-
- It has 7 pairs of rivet holes.
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.20 item b]
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Petersen Type K
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England, London, Old London Bridge
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.77]
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England, London, Old London Bridge
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.77]
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England, London, Old London Bridge
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.77]
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England, London, Old London Bridge
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.77]
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England, London, Old London Bridge
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.77]
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England, London, Old London Bridge
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.77]
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England, London, Putney
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927:p.28 Fig.12.4] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.85]
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England, London, nr. Tate Gallery
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927:p.28 Fig.12.5] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.85]
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England, London, Thames River
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- socket covered with alternating silver and copper chevrons
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927:p.28 Fig.12.5] [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.84 fig.49]
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England, London
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total- 24"
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.84 fig.50]
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England, London
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total- 18"
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.84 fig.51]
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England, London
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total- 12"
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.84 fig.52]
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England, Yorkshire, Camphill near Bedale
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Long and slender late Viking - Type K?
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.15]
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England, Cambridgeshire, Ely
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- found in the fens
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.67]
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Isle of Man, Balladoyne
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total- L:20-25”
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Type K, very rusty. A thin disk is attached to the socket. Inside the socket are fragments of fine linen fabric which had been bound twice around the point of the wooden shaft.
- Bibliography- [BJORN and SHETELIG 1940:p.26]
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Petersen Type M
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England, Essex, Nazing
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total- L:246mm x W:35mm
- Blade- T:6mm
- Socket- D:18 mm
- Decoration between blade and socket consists of a barrel-shaped collar with two ribs above and below it. These had been forged by cutting into the spear when hot during manufacture. Pattern-welded blade.
- Bibliography- [MORRIS 1983]
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England, London, Thames Street
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1935:pl.XI 4] [MORRIS 1983]
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England, London
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Unprovenanced, but found in London
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1935:pl.XI 5] [MORRIS 1983]
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England, Kidlington, River Cherwell
- Current Location- Ashmolean Museum: 1949/928
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Bibliography- [MORRIS 1983]
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England, Hertfordshire, Lugg Mills
- Current Location- Ashmolean Museum: 1949/928
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Unpublished
- Bibliography- [MORRIS 1983]
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England, London, Thames at Datchet
- Current Location-
- Dimensions-
- Total-
- Blade-
- Socket-
- Unpublished
- Bibliography- [WHEELER 1927:p.28 fig.12.6]
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Unclassified Spearheads
The following spearheads are referenced but have both no associated image and no type mentioned.
- Magdalen Bridge, Oxford, England (SHETELIG, Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland Part 4, VIKING ANTIQUITIES IN ENGLAND 1940, P.12)
- West Ham, near Basingstoke, Hants, England. Possibly Saxon (SHETELIG, Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland Part 4, VIKING ANTIQUITIES IN ENGLAND 1940, P.15)
- Claughton Hall, near Gortstaug, Lancashire, England (Lost) (SHETELIG, Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland Part 4, VIKING ANTIQUITIES IN ENGLAND 1940, P.18)
- Ballaugh, Isle of Man (Lost) (SHETELIG, Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland Part 4, VIKING ANTIQUITIES IN ENGLAND 1940, P.22)
- Boiden, near the lower Bridge of Froon, Scotland (Lost) The spear-head is 11 in. long and 2 in. broad.
References
<nocite>
BJORN1940
FUGLESANG1980
MORRIS1983
PETERSEN1919
RYGH1885
WHEELER1927
WHEELER1935
WOV
</nocite>
<biblio force=false>#Template:Bib</biblio>