The Spear.—The spear is undoubtedly of the most remote antiquity, and dates far back into the Stone Period; its inception seems to be inherent in all savage tribes, and is a natural evolution of the idea of inflicting injury upon a foe at a distance, and again of preventing his approach to do personal harm. The primitive man probably pointed a long stick by attrition on a rock, and subsequently hardened it by fire: a splint of bone, being harder than the wood, occurred next, and probably the flint succeeded, to be followed in due time by the bronze head. The difficulty of affixing the head, however, seems to have hindered progress at first in this direction, for the bronze dagger undoubtedly antedated the spear-head, which continued to be of flint for a long period after the dagger was introduced. It is highly probable that the first spear-head was not constructed until the Bronze man discovered the secret of making the socketed celt by means of a core placed within the mould; with the advent of this invention spear-heads became possible. Of course it may be open to question whether any of the blades with tangs were really spear-heads and not daggers, or incipient sword-blades. Some spear-heads have been found which are undoubtedly of the tanged description, but they are not of British, and possibly not even of European origin. The general form of the head tends towards the leaf-shape, though this is not so pronounced as it is in the sword ([Fig. 25]). The advent of the spear-head occurred when man had developed considerable skill in the casting of bronze and its manipulation under the hammer, and the really extraordinary deftness shown in making the core, so that the minimum of metal was used with the maximum of effect and strength, calls forth the warmest admiration. Some of these cores are prolonged through the centre of the blade, so that the metal is really attenuated, but at the same time of uniform thickness, the inserted staff providing the necessary rigidity. Respecting the sizes of those found there can be no question but that the larger heads (and some have been found nearly a yard in length) were intended for use only in the hand as spears, while some of the smaller are the heads of javelins, or possibly of arrows. The blades are at times of remarkable beauty of design and of excellent workmanship. The sage-leaf form is of very common occurrence, the central core reaching to the point, and ornamented with subordinate ribs which also strengthen the blade. In these forms a hole is punched in the socket for the insertion of a rivet to fix it to the lance shaft. Others show two small loops cast upon the socket for a thong to pass through, which was afterwards brought down to the shaft and securely fastened ([Fig. 26]). This variety shows no rivet-hole. Ornamentation is by no means rare upon these spear-heads; it generally takes the form of open work, such as circles and ovals perforating the blade, and of filed or cast patterns upon the sockets, some even showing traces of gold inlaying. Barbed spear-heads are extremely rare, and were probably only used in the chase.
PLATE I*
Shield of Italian Workmanship, Sixteenth Century
A. F. Calvert
Arrow-heads.—Arrow-heads in bronze practically do not exist in this country, although they occur on the Continent and in Egypt, where they are generally of the types shown in Figs. [27] and [28]. It is highly probable that the flint arrow-head was in use through the whole, or nearly the whole, of the Bronze Age, being retained because of its efficiency and cheapness. Bronze must have been a comparatively rare and dear alloy, and the weapons exhibit as a rule the minimum of metal in their construction compatible with efficiency; arrows from their very nature are continually being lost, and this fact alone would render their use expensive.
Fig. 27.—Bronze arrow-head.