Changes

Jump to: navigation, search

Spears

No change in size, 11:17, 2 March 2013
/* Spearheads with attached wings or lugs */
== Spearheads with attached wings or lugs==
[[File:Codex Aureus.png|thumb|Codex Aureus Epternacensis f.78, Germany, 1040AD]]
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.
{{Quote|80
|Though Petersen used the lugs as diagnostic features for his typology of spears, recent scholars have very properly challenged the notion that they serve as chronological or stylistic indicators. Because the lugs have a function in preventing too deep a penetration of the blade, this type of spear was used primarily as a hunting weapon, since with it the animal could be more easily held at bay. So successful was it that it survived in use until the end of the Middle Ages. That it was so employed is demonstrated by the 10th-century cross Middleton A, near Pickering, which depicts a stag hunt with the huntsman wielding a lugged spear. Signe Horn Fuglesang's [FUGLESANG 1980: P.136] discussion of such sockets has convincingly removed the lug as a typological factor, and as a chronological criterion too.
|Lang<br>
[LANG 1981]
}}
<br>
[[File:Codex Aureus.png|thumb|Codex Aureus Epternacensis f.78, Germany, 1040AD]]
Often referred to as Carolingian spearheads as originally they were classed as C9th Carolingian imports [GRAHAM-CAMPBELL 1980: p.72]. This date line has now been extended as there are a number of later period depictions such as on a German manuscript (Codex Aureus Epternacensis fol.78) dated to 1040AD. In this manuscript the spear is seen being used single handed over arm in conjunction with a kite shield. It may even have survived in use until the middle ages [LANG 1981].<br>
It has been suggested winged spears may have been hunting spears [FUGLESANG 1980]. As an example she uses the C10th Middleton Cross A stone, which has been interpreted as a hunting scene.<br>