Sarmatian Cavalry

[Alanus]

Hello Matthew and fellow Gentleman,

Find time to post IS a problem... especially here on the "steppes of Maine," more like Siberia where the internet sattelite eludes us.:lol:

All good sound advice. I looked at that buffalo horn helmet, too. But I thought the solder joints were a botched job. Fairly messy. A Scythian-type bow might be a little "early," John had a point about birch-bark. Here is my other "Sarmatain" bow:
[attachment=594]birch-barkbow001.JPG[/attachment]

[attachment=595]birch-barkbow004.JPG[/attachment]
As you see, I favor siyahs because of their leverage, plus they date prior to the 1st century AD. This one is covered in birch bark.

Jurjen's ideas on the contus head are sound. Here is an interesting super-early example, probably a spear head:
[attachment=596]contushead002.JPG[/attachment]
It's a leaf-shaped bronze head from a Petrovka/Sintashta chariot grave, about 2000BC, but the shape and socket puts it as the earliest predecessor to the "European spearhead" pictured below:
[attachment=597]contushead005.JPG[/attachment]
This one can to purchased from KOA, not too expensive but I think of fairly soft steel, probably 1050.

Jurjen also made a good point about 3-fletched arrows. Practicality and availability usually dictated what an archer used. That's why the asymmetrical bow came into use very early. If you couldn't find enough long gray cattle horn, you could make one limb of the bow shorter and then adjust it to zero tiller. Same with arrows, and you could get more bang from the bird by using 3 instead of 4 fletches.:lol: