Even as early as the Copper Period small weak knife-daggers were in use, and these continued into the Bronze Age, becoming the parent of the spear-head as well as of the rapier and sword. The spear-head was evolved by decreasing the width of the base of the dagger-blade, and adding a narrow tang with a peg-hole to fix into the shaft. The addition of a ferule was the next step; and the omission of the tang, and amalgamation of the ferule with the blade, gave rise to the socketed spear-head.
Fig. 24.
Fig. 25.
The Irish spear-heads may be divided into two well-defined groups, looped and riveted; and it will be found that the separation of the types extends farther than the mode of attachment. The form of the blade of each class is quite distinct. Taking the looped spear-heads first, we can follow the development of the spear-head from the dagger-blade. The adaptation is shown in fig. [24] (the centre spear-head), which is, in fact, a dagger-blade placed on a socket. The socket does not enter the blade, but is stopped at the shoulders. The V-shaped base of the blade is derived from the dagger, and disappears as the true character of the spear form is developed. A feature of special interest is the survival of the rivet-heads of the dagger in the form of ornamental bosses at the base of the blade. The rivet-holes appear to have been drilled, and not formed in casting. No examples of this form of spear-head have been found in England; and but one is recorded from the Isle of Man and two from Scotland. In the last example (in fig. [24]), the imitative rivets are reduced to a single boss, and completely disappear in the next stage (fig. [25]).
