Why did the Germanics used pointy shieldbosses?

[Razor]

I wonder why the Germanics had pointy shieldbosses during the migration period while they were also using Roman fighting tactics. I understand it would mean that you could use the shield as an offensive weapon. You could easily hurt your collegue standing in front of you when you were standing in a dense formation... It wouldn't have been that practical would it?

[FAVENTIANVS]

Couldn't have they fought in open order raids?

[Conal]

It may have started with ease of manufacture. A semi circle will form a cone which can them be welded to a band to fix it to the shield. I vaguely recall reading that somewhere???

I was under the impression that it was the Migration period shields which had this and they were the smaller round shields or smaller oval ones rather than those big old convexed ovals. This would make sense when considering the boss as an offensive weapon to injure as much as protect.

[Redwald]

According to Heinrich Harke and Tania Dickinson in their book on early Anglo Saxon shields early shields are small 5th C and later 6th and 7th C ones are larger.
They suggest the same thing as you do, Conal, that smaller spiked shields are more offensive -- however 1st century legionnaries used their heavy (unspiked) scutums very offensively and to great effect -- so I am not sure that that argument holds.
It is certainly possible that spiked bosses were a remnant of the manufacturing process -- later shields (late 5th and 6th and even early 7th) had disc bosses -- which appear to be totally useless for anything but decoration.

Paul

[Commilito]

Well, don't say the spiked shield design isn't effective yet.

I seem to recall the Scottish being rather effective with their targe which is basically what we are describing.

[Conal]

Redwald

I dont see how the fact that Roman Legionaries ( or for that matter Greeks, Persians or Celts ) used their shields offenssively makes an arguement for Migration period offensive use untenable?

A pointy boss in a compact formation may be a liability to those in front but in a more open fighting/raiding style where a shiled is not primerily designed for body coverage suggests to me a more mobile use of the shield ...i.e puching with the pointy boss? It does not , I grant you, need to be pointy to be effective but it helps dunnit

[Martin Wallgren]

Couldn't have they fought in open order raids?

Exactly my thought too!

That would be in line with the general change in tactics theorised in other threads here!

Martin

[FAVENTIANVS]

det stemmer! :wink: (är det rett paa svenska?)

[Martin Wallgren]

hehe! Ja det är det!

Your Swedish is good man!

Where did you pick that up?

[FAVENTIANVS]

I've made a couple of Norska courses in the Skandinavian club of Barcelona, then had some Swedish friends too.

[Martin Wallgren]

Cool!

Maybe we should get back on topic...

:oops:

[FAVENTIANVS]

Du är rett!! Vi prates! :wink:

[Redwald]

Conal,
I didn't say they weren't used offensively -- I think that all shields were used for the attack. This includes big ones with or without spikes and small ones. I am not sure that a spike on a shield makes it more aggressive. Presumably, if it did the Romans would have used them. It may have had a phsychological effect against troops that hadn't experienced them before.

Paul

[Redwald]

ps why can't I get on the www.primagermanica.com site?

Paul

[FAVENTIANVS]

ps why can't I get on the www.primagermanica.com site?

Paul

Strange! It does work to me :?
http://www.fectio.org.uk/links.htm

Tell me what happened.