Spears from the Imperium Romanum

[Sean Manning]

There are many great publications of Germanic, British, and Celtic spears. Are there any published spears from the imperium Romanum, especially the eastern half? Or from pre-imperial Italy? My copy of the report from Dura Europos is not with me.

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If you want the bibliography for pre-Roman barbaricum:

Germanic: I don't know the best publications of Nydam and Hjortspring

Celtic:
Rapin, Gournay II (my copy is in the post)

British:
Michael Parker Pearson, N. Field (eds.), Fiskerton: Iron Age Timber Causeway with Iron Age and Roman Votive Offerings (2003)

Green, H. Stephen. (1978). "Late Bronze Age wooden hafts from Llyn Fawr and Penwyllt, and a review of the evidence for the selection of wood for tool and weapon handles in Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain and Ireland." Bull. Board Celtic Stud. Vol. 28, pp. 136-141.

Stead, Ian M. (1991) Iron Age Cemeteries in East Yorkshire: Excavations at Burton Fleming, Rudston, Garton-on-the-Wolds, and Kirkburn. English Heritage Archaeological Report, 22 (London: English Heritage in association with British Museum Press) ISBN 1-85074-351-7

Paul R. Sealey, East Anglian Archaeology 118: A Late Iron Age Warrior Burial from Kelvedon, Essex (2007)

Stuart Needham, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, David Coombs, Caroline Cartwright, and Paul Pettitt (1997) "An Independent Chronology for British Bronze Age Metalwork: The Results of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Programme," Archaeological Journal, 154:1, pp. 55-107, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00665983.1997.11078784

J. M. Coles, S. V. E. Heal and B. J. Orme, "The Use and Character of Wood in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland" Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, Volume 44, (December 1978), pp 1 - 45 http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S...7X00009968

[Crispianus]

There are many great publications of Germanic, British, and Celtic spears.  Are there any published spears from the imperium Romanum, especially the eastern half? Or from pre-imperial Italy? My copy of the report from Dura Europos is not with me.

---

If you want the bibliography for pre-Roman barbaricum:

Germanic: I don't know the best publications of Nydam and Hjortspring
 

Illerup Adal Vol 1-2 Jorgen Ilkjaer 1990, part of a large series detailing the finds from the bog by type, should still be available not expensive. Essential because it puts a lot of other finds such as Thorsberg and Nydam in context.

Der Thorsberger Moorfund Katalog, Klaus Raddatz, Offa-Bücher band 65 1987. details all the then known military equipment.

Also new series from Nydam and Thorsberg which includes the original but for some odd reason the Danish version! this also includes previously unpublished leathework, from "The Center for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology" Schelwig. sold I think direct from Aarhus University Press.

There are many others...

[Sean Manning]

Interesting! Oxbow Books seems to have a pretty complete set on Illerup, I may have room in my budget in a few months https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/catalog...lerup+adal These days it generally takes a month or two for books from Europe to arrive in western Canada.

The Ostsee is further from my interests than Bulgaria or Turkey would be ("Barbarian Europe" and the Scythian world had one technological tradition and Greece and Southwest Asia another, and my focus is the first millennium BCE not the first millennium CE), but Homer liked ash spears and so did the Beowulf poet and the prehistoric British warriors.

[Sean Manning]

I visited the university and had a look at Simon James' report on Dura Europos and at Bishop and Coulston second edition. I did not find anything to back the statement in B&C p. 76 that spear shafts from Augustus to Hadrian were "usually of ash or hazel." Unless its in:

David Marchant "Roman weapons in Great Britain, a case study: spearheads, problems in dating and typology" JRMES 1 (1990) pp. 1–6 {UVic has every volume but 1 and 11]
W.H. Manning. (1985) Catalogue of the Romano-British iron tools, fittings and weapons in the British Museum {UVic has it, I ran out of time}

It did not seem to be in: Ian R. Scott, "Spearheads of the British limes" Roman frontier studies 1979 (BAR, 1980)

In Hoplites: The Classical Greek Battle Experience, John Kinloch Anderson found a passage about wood for spears in lines 127ff of the Cynegeticon of Gettius, a didactic poem on hunting.

[Crispianus]

I visited the university and had a look at Simon James' report on Dura Europos and at Bishop and Coulston second edition.  I did not find anything to back the statement in B&C p. 76 that spear shafts from Augustus to Hadrian were "usually of ash or hazel."  Unless its in:

David Marchant "Roman weapons in Great Britain, a case study: spearheads, problems in dating and typology" JRMES 1 (1990) pp. 1–6 {UVic has every volume but 1 and 11]
W.H. Manning. (1985) Catalogue of the Romano-British iron tools, fittings and weapons in the British Museum {UVic has it, I ran out of time}

It did not seem to be in: Ian R. Scott, "Spearheads of the British limes" Roman frontier studies 1979 (BAR, 1980)

In Hoplites: The Classical Greek Battle Experience, John Kinloch Anderson found a passage about wood for spears in lines 127ff of the Cynegeticon of Gettius, a didactic poem on hunting.

I wasn't really certain what you were after!

However I do have a book specifically dealing with warfare from the period of Hjortsping, its called:

Horjtspring "Warfare and Sacrifice in Early Europe" by Klaus Ransborg 1995 Aarhus University Press

At the very least it contains an extensive bibliography some of which would doubtless be usefull.

The Hoplites link times out...

[Sean Manning]

I wasn't really certain what you were after!

Like I said, published spears from the Imperium Romanum or pre-Roman Italy! But adding other publications of early European spears is useful too. My ancient research focuses on the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid world, but others might be more interested in Atlantic and Baltic Europe.

Edit: And spears in rich places like Achaemenid Babylonia or Late Archaic Thebes were probably at least as sophisticated as spears in places where they were still using bone points and wooden bosses! McLean's Heuristic: if you can't find sources from the time and place you are interested, studying how other low-tech societies did it is much better than relying on your big modern educated brain.

Thanks for the fuller citation to the book on Hjortspring. On Nydam, did you mean the books by Andreas Rau with titles like Nydam Mose 1-2: Die personengebundenen Gegenstände. Grabungen 1989-1999? They seem to be out of stock at Aarhus University Press (link).

The Hoplites link times out...

The link to the Cynegeticon on Lacus Curtius works for me. Here is a link to an overview of the poem.

[Crispianus]

I wasn't really certain what you were after!

Like I said, published spears from the Imperium Roman or pre-Roman Italy!  But adding other publications of early European spears is useful too.  My ancient research focuses on the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid world, but others might be more interested in Atlantic and Baltic Europe. 

Edit: And spears in rich places like Achaemenid Babylonia or Late Archaic Thebes were probably at least as sophisticated as spears in places where they were still using bone points and wooden bosses!  McLean's Heuristic: if you can't find sources from the time and place you are interested, studying how other low-tech societies did it is much better than relying on your big modern educated brain.

Thanks for the fuller citation to the book on Hjortspring.  On Nydam, did you mean the books by Andreas Rau with titles like Nydam Mose 1-2: Die personengebundenen Gegenstände. Grabungen 1989-1999?  They seem to be out of stock at Aarhus University Press (link).

The Hoplites link times out...

The link to the Cynegeticon on Lacus Curtius works for me.  Here is a link to an overview of the poem.

Yes thats the one, Odd that their out of stock not sure how usefull these would be to you though... Illerup 1-2 is really the one to go for it is only about spears, has an extensive typology, comparative material and references really first class, it would be unlikely you would need anything else.

There is a good copy online of "Denmark in the Early Iron Age"  Conrad Engelhardt 1866, details the original finds from Thorsberg, Nydam and Vimose....

He says mostly ash for spear shafts 1inch thick, rounded butt, no butt spikes, @9ft long.

This may be of interest: "Armement et auxiliaires gaulois", Pernet 2010

[Sean Manning]

Ivor, does Ilerup Adal 1 und 2: Die Lanzen und Speere discuss how the diameter of the shafts changes from point to butt? People often assume that spearstaves are the same diameter throughout, but if you start with a wedge of tree, I'm not sure that is the easiest shape to make. I think the three questions I am most interested in are 1) what wood? (only about half of the spears in British graves are ash), 2) how does the diameter vary from end to end, and 3) what was the overall length?

I have cross-posted this call of sources on spears to my site because someone on corporate social media cannot open this page

[Crispianus]

Ivor, does Ilerup Adal 1 und 2: Die Lanzen und Speere discuss how the diameter of the shafts changes from point to butt?  People often assume that spearstaves are the same diameter throughout, but if you start with a wedge of tree, I'm not sure that is the easiest shape to make.  I think the three questions I am most interested in are 1) what wood? (only about half of the spears in British graves are ash), 2) how does the diameter vary from end to end, and 3) what was the overall length?

I have cross-posted this call of sources on spears to my site because someone on corporate social media cannot open this page

I'm going to have to eat my words non of the modern books have details of spear shafts that I can see, though "Der Thorsberger Moorfund" katalogue, K Raddatz, contains fragments with measurements, which look like mostly ends for the spear heads, but no complete example and no wood identification even though other wood is sometimes identified.

To my knowledge this solely leaves the Books by Engelhardt! which has some info on spear shafts:

Denmark in the early Iron Age (link already given): complete examples described with illustrations appear to taper more to the butt then the point, no real measurements for thickness other then about an inch thick, the illustrations may help, described as "mostly" ash, length 8-10+ feet, see lances and javalins page 56.

There may be more in these but unfortunatly I don't read Danish mostly:
Spears are "kastespyd" measurements are "Tommer" (inch or thumb) is I believe 2.6cm, in Nydam Mosefund length is given as 90.5-120 Tommer so 2,353mm (7.7 feet) to 3,120mm (10.2 feet) long.

Engelhardt, Conrad: Fynske Mosefund. 2: Vimose fundet

Engelhardt, Conrad: Fynske Mosefund. 1: Kragehul mosefund

Engelhardt, Conrad: Nydam Mosefund 1859 - 1863

Engelhardt, Conrad: Thorsbjerg Mosefund

These can be downloaded by using the four digit code supplied below the code box on the download page, but you cannot paste the text into a translator, for that you need to reguest a better download version with OCR (four weeks), still they are excellent copies.
From what I can see...

click on arrow in the top right hand corner this opens a window.
scroll down to "Gesamtes Digitalisat/Volltext" click on "PDF/DaFo" which takes you to the download page.
Tick the box "Ja", below this is a "Download schlüssel" box, attached in the greyed area is the four digit key, copy this in the box, then click on the box "Sofort-Download als PDF-Datei - Weiter"...
After a little time a new window will open, click on "PDF-Datei öffnen oder herunterladen" for the download, which are large but as a result have good illutrations!

Really excessive I dont think they really want people downloading from the site!

its slow clunky and may take some time and a take few attempts...

[Crispianus]

From "Spearheads of the Anglo-Saxon Settlements". Swanton 1973, to my knowledge there are no digital copies of this:

Hjortspring, Spearshafts mostly Ash with some Rowan and suprisingly Birch.
(However Klaus Randsborg says Ash 2.5cm in the center and 1.97m long for the longest but incomplete, others were slightly thinner or thicker.)
La Tene, Vimose, Nydam, only Ash shafts found.

Anglo-Saxon spears seem to have shafts of ash aesc.

footnote 65 page 26.

otherwise as noted above.

[Sean Manning]

I'm going to have to eat my words non of the modern books have details of spear shafts that I can see, though "Der Thorsberger Moorfund" katalogue, K Raddatz, contains fragments with measurements, which look like mostly ends for the spear heads, but no complete example and no wood identification even though other wood is sometimes identified.

Ivor, I want to make sure I understand. Are you telling me that the two giant volumes on spears and lances from Ilerup Aadal do not publish the spears, just the spear-heads and lance-points?

And that Klaus Raddatz' Der Thorsberger Moorfund Katalog, Offa-Bücher band 65 1987 does not publish the spears and lances just the heads or points?

And that Andreas Rau with titles like Nydam Mose 1-2: Die personengebundenen Gegenstände. Grabungen 1989-1999 does not publish the spears, just the spear-heads and spear-points? Because the wood is the interesting sophisticated bit, any apprentice can bang a piece of iron into a socketed spearhead! And the wood is the rare part, there are hundreds of thousands of surviving spearheads from the ancient world but having the whole spear is much more informative. So I would really expcet that if they have rare finds like spearshafts, archaeologists would rush to publish them as carefully and completely as possible and leave the boring things like silver and gold and iron for later.

I think I really lucked out with East Anglian Archaeology 118! Which was available and affordable from Oxbow Books when I bought it.

[Crispianus]

I'm going to have to eat my words non of the modern books have details of spear shafts that I can see, though "Der Thorsberger Moorfund" katalogue, K Raddatz, contains fragments with measurements, which look like mostly ends for the spear heads, but no complete example and no wood identification even though other wood is sometimes identified.

Ivor, I want to make sure I understand.  Are you telling me that the two giant volumes on spears and lances from Ilerup Aadal do not publish the spears, just the spear-heads and lance-points?

And that Klaus Raddatz' Der Thorsberger Moorfund Katalog, Offa-Bücher band 65 1987 does not publish the spears and lances just the heads or points?

And that Andreas Rau with titles like Nydam Mose 1-2: Die personengebundenen Gegenstände. Grabungen 1989-1999 does not publish the spears, just the spear-heads and spear-points?  Because the wood is the interesting sophisticated bit, any apprentice can bang a piece of iron into a socketed spearhead!  And the wood is the rare part, there are hundreds of thousands of surviving spearheads from the ancient world but having the whole spear is much more informative.

I think I really lucked out with East Anglian Archaeology 118!  Which was available and affordable from Oxbow Books when I bought it.

Sadly Yes... as far as I can see there is no spearshaft detail in Illerup vol 1 & 2 though there are occasionally spear shafts in photos of the dig, however there are many complete or near complete spears in drawings of the dig in vol 8 basically a slip file of detailed plans of high class groupings, which takes up four volumes of the series.
The Thorsberg Katalogue is just that a catalogue, items 427-480 are pieces of spear shaft (maximum length about 26cm ish) mostly from the business end but there are a few from the center indicated by nails (Engelhardt), I assume this is all that survived. 
All these volumes have much woodwork but spearshafts definatly take a back seat.

The quality of the actual finds is superb as is the publication... except for this one thing.

[Sean Manning]

Thanks! According to Nick Sekunda's article on the sarissa, there is some information on how spears from British sites were made in:

S.V.E. Heal in S. McGrail (ed.), Woodworking Techniques before AD 1500, British Archaeological reports, International Series, No. 129 (1982) p.

Meanwhile I will step back and hope someone knows of published spears from pre-imperial Italy or the Roman empire, especially the eastern half! This does seem like a neglected subject.

[Crispianus]

Spear Typologies, though I think it only deals with heads it is mediteranean orientated:

Spoiling for a Fight,: Using spear typologies to identify aspects of warrior identity and fighting style in Iron Age South Italy’


La Tene Pannonia, Balkans Region, again only appear to deal with heads:

La Tène spearheads from south-eastern Pannonia and the northern Balkans: typology, chronology, ritual, and social context

[Sean Manning]

The book by W.H. Manning does not seem to have anything relevant, but there is a picture of some spearheads and butt-spikes with the grain of the wood illustrated in:

Christine Howard-Davis (ed.), The Carlisle Millennium Project. Lancaster Imprints, Volume 15 (Oxford Archaeology North, 2010) fig. 367

These shafts were made from wedges or square timbers not round wood. My paper copy is not with me so I can't see if there is any further information in the text (Oxbow Books).

Any further updates (other than thanking people like Ivor who post suggestions here) will be on my blog post with the call for sources.