Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Matthew Amt]

No you haven't frightened me off :lol:

Oh, good! I don't want to be TOO much of a meanie!

At Four Crosses in Powys archaeologists have discovered a spearhead and a javelin tip. The javelin was made of a length of soft iron which had been bent and unbent many times, it had a head similar to Roman hunting arrows, but with a dimond cross-section. The length of the shaft behind it was also similar to an arrow but because of the socket it was evidently attached to a shaft of wood, maybe five feet long. Also found at the same burial was a spearhead. The spearhead was long and tapering as well as leaf-shaped and had a stiff central ridge.

Well, the javelin head sounds like a typical angon, probably pretty common weapon. (Though I'm not sure what they mean by "Roman hunting arrows"?) The spearhead sounds pretty typical, too. Presumably there was something else in this find to supply a date, at least tentatively? Cuz a generic iron spearhead could date anywhere from c. 800 BC to the 19th century AD! But I agree the angon (if that's what it is) would narrow that down considerably. Not earth-shaking, but finding weapons in the ground is always cool!

By definition wouldn't much of the protective gear of our subject time period have been ad hoc, gleaned from battlefields, handed down in a family or gifts from leaders?

Sure, a lot of it could be quite old, inherited or gifts. At least a little would be looted, but having dead *armored* enemies to loot would be a lot less common than dean *UNarmored* enemies! And as I understand it, good loot was generally claimed by the boss, to keep or give to his buddies. Not sure what you mean by "ad hoc"--if you were eligible for military service, you should know what gear was required of you well ahead of time. Not sure what would happen if you turned up without it! Fined? Sent home? Flogged? Beheaded? Issued with something minimal and told to get your butt in line? Dunno!

Matthew