Weight and grip of sarissa and shield in macedonian phalanx

[PMBardunias]

In the Pergamene battle plaque, the sarissa is not really shown being held under the shield - it is being held about a third of the way up the shield.

I meant "under" as in the shield is covering the shaft, so we are in complete agreement.

I suspect that the artist was confused as to how to properly portray the grip.

I am inclined to agree, but this leaves us in the unenviable position that half of our extant images (all until you told me of the Aberdeen relief) are unreliable.

The Aberdeen relief shows the phalangite from the other side, so that he is facing the left. The sarissa is, as expected, held around the middle of the shield, though the shield appears to be quite big.

I'll attempt to hunt this down, if anyone has a copy please share it. Any idea on the date, other than the Thureos? How big is big? as big as an aspis?
***Edit: I have the image if anyone wants it. Very interesting***

This may give us a general idea of the weight of a sarissa, but considering Sekunda's discussion in his 2001 article on the materials and construction of the sarissa which challenges most of the assertions made my Andronikos and, subsequently, Markle, these figures are probably way off.

What is the Sekunda reference? I don't have access to many of his articles. Does he make them heavier or lighter?

Thanks in advance for answering my slew of questions.