It has been suggested that these weapons were fishing spears, and certainly their barbed form, so distinct from that of the more common spear-heads, raises a presumption that they were intended for some special purpose. It appears to me, however, as it already has done to others, that such weapons are too clumsy to have been used for the capture of fish of any ordinary size, and would have made sad havoc even of a forty-pound salmon. If they were used for the chase at all, it is more probable that they were intended for attacking large four-footed game, such as wild oxen, either by thrusting or darting, and that the weapons were left in the wound, the shafts encumbering the animal in its flight. If, as would probably be the case, these got broken by the animal, the long rivets were well adapted for being removed so as to allow of the broken shaft being taken out, and would again serve to retain a new one.
Mention has already been made of ferrules having been frequently discovered in company with ordinary spear-heads; and from this fact, and the size and character of the ferrules, the inference has, with much probability, been drawn that they served to tip the lower ends of the shafts of spears and lances.
| Fig. 423. Nettleham. ½ | Fig. 424. Guilsfield. ¼ |
The illustrations given in Figs. 423 and 424 will serve to show the usual character of these objects. They vary in length from about 16 inches down to 8 inches, and are about ¾ inch or less in diameter. They are not made from a flat piece of metal turned over, but are cast in one piece, having been very carefully “cored.” The metal, especially near the mouth, is very thin, and there is usually a small hole nearer this end than the other to allow of a pin or rivet being inserted to keep the ferrule on the shaft.
The original of Fig. 423 (8¼ inches) was found with spear-heads and other articles at Nettleham, near Lincoln, and is now in the British Museum.[1301]
One 14 inches long, bluntly pointed at the base, was found in the Thames, near London, and is now in the British Museum. It has a portion of the wooden shaft inside, which appears to be of beech. The hole for the pin is still visible in the wood, but the pin has perished. It may have been made of horn.
Fig. 424 is on the scale of one-fourth, the original being 14 inches long. It was found with eleven others, varying in length from 10 to 16 inches, and with spear-heads and other articles, at Guilsfield, Montgomeryshire.[1302]
Another ferrule (9½ inches) was found, with spear-heads, socketed celts, &c., near Nottingham.[1303]
Four such (about 7 inches) were found, with spear-heads, &c., at Bloody Pool, South Brent, Devon.[1304]