| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
The following probably refers to atlatls, not actual javelins: technology present in the wider region from c.4000 BCE, and there is evidence for their use in Formative Mesoamerican art.
[2]
[3]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. [2]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.13. [3]: Voorhies, Barbara (1996). Archaic Period in Mesoamerica." The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, ed. B. Fagan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 442-444. |
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"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
The following probably refers to atlatls, not actual javelins: technology present in the wider region from c.4000 BCE, and there is evidence for their use in Formative Mesoamerican art.
[2]
[3]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. [2]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.13. [3]: Voorhies, Barbara (1996). Archaic Period in Mesoamerica." The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, ed. B. Fagan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 442-444. |
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Not included in the following: "Thrusting spears became the primary combat weapons [in the Late Formative situation] as they spread throughout Mesoamerica. Clubs persisted, but declined [...] maces also declined. [...] The distribution of slingstones throughout Mesoamerica indicates the continued use".
[1]
diverse array of projectile points in archaeological record, and there is evidence for their use in Formative Mesoamerican art.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. [2]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.13. [3]: Voorhies, Barbara (1996). Archaic Period in Mesoamerica." The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, ed. B. Fagan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 442-444. [4]: Tolstoy, Paul (1971). "Utilitarian Artifacts of Central Mexico." In The Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, ed. G. F. Ekholm, and I. Bernal. Austin: University of Texas Press, 270-296. |
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Not included in the following: "Thrusting spears became the primary combact weapons [in the Late Formative situation] as they spread throughout Mesoamerica. Clubs persisted, but declined [...] maces also declined. [...] The distribution of slingstones throughout Mesoamerica indicates the continued use".
[1]
diverse array of projectile points in archaeological record, and there is evidence for their use in Formative Mesoamerican art.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. [2]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.13. [3]: Voorhies, Barbara (1996). Archaic Period in Mesoamerica." The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, ed. B. Fagan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 442-444. [4]: Tolstoy, Paul (1971). "Utilitarian Artifacts of Central Mexico." In The Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, ed. G. F. Ekholm, and I. Bernal. Austin: University of Texas Press, 270-296. |
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Inferred from the fact that sources such as Hassig do not mention this weapon in lists and descriptions of weapons known to have been used in Teotihuacan.
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 47-48) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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There was no significant change in arms compared to the Classic period—thrusting spears and atlatls continued to dominate.
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 82) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
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"Most of the basic Mesoamerican armaments were in existence at this time [Classic period] - atlatls, darts, and spears, we well as clubs (bladed and unbladed), shields, cotton body armor, and unit standards [...] This military organization and technology was carried forward and elaborated on first by Toltecs and then by Aztecs".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 5) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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Not mentioned by sources.
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Presumably they had these, as throwing spears were used later in Hawaiian prehistory, but evidence is needed.
[1]
. Similarly, if Polynesian ancestors had spears too this would be good converging evidence.
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70. |
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Presumably they had these, as throwing spears were used later in Hawaiian prehistory, but evidence is needed.
[1]
. Similarly, if Polynesian ancestors had spears too this would be good converging evidence.
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70. |
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Most sources only refer to bows and arrows
[1]
, and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD".
[2]
[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95) [2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6 |
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Most sources only refer to bows and arrows
[1]
, and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD".
[2]
[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95) [2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6 |
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Most sources only refer to bows and arrows
[1]
, and even they appear to have been used mostly for hunting, not warfare, judging from the fact that skeletons pierced with arrowpoints become common only later. Indeed, there is little evidence for warfare in the region up until "[l]ate in the first millennium AD".
[2]
[1]: (Blitz and Porth 2013, 89-95) [2]: (Milner, Chaplin and Zavodny 2013, 96-97) Milner, George, George Chaplin, and Emily Zavodny. 2013. “Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America.” Evolutionary Anthropology 22: 96-102. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/PAF8KM8K/itemKey/QR77EGA6 |
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Code checked by Peter Peregrine. Previous notes: Archaeological evidence for warfare appears to "only" include "[d]efensive structures around villages, violent injuries on human remains, "trophy heads," the abandonment of regions, and the positioning of sites in ever more defensive positions"
[1]
, though a few weapon types can be cautiously inferred, such as bow and arrows and spears
[2]
, and, at a later date, firearms
[3]
.
[1]: G. Gibbon, Oneota, in P. Peregrine, M. Ember and Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 6: North America (2001), p. 391 [2]: P.S. Martin, G.I. Quimby and D.Collier, Indians Before Columbus (1947), p. 316 [3]: Illinois State Museum, Late Prehistoric, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre/htmls/lp_weapons.html |
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Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets
[1]
. It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html |
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine. Projectile point sizes indicate no usage of spears after about 1200 CE.
[1]
Not to be confused with atlatl darts. In the Mississippian region (Midwest and Upland South) the transition from atlatl to bow about 300-400 BCE was "relatively rapid because dart points disappear from the archaeological record."
[2]
[1]: (Peregrine 2014, personal communication) [2]: (Blitz and Porth 2013) |
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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The discovery of iron spears and arrowheads including one found lodged in the spine of a man lying prone, support this conjecture [evidence of fighting].
[1]
Not clear that the spear is a thrown weapon however. Uncertain if the spears in this period were used a thrown weapons.
[1]: (Higham 2004b, p. 21) |
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The discovery of iron spears and arrowheads including one found lodged in the spine of a man lying prone, support this conjecture [evidence of fighting].
[1]
Not clear that the spear is a thrown weapon however. Uncertain if the spears in this period were used a thrown weapons.
[1]: (Higham 2004b, p. 21) |
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No mention of thrown spears. Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[1]
The switch-over did not occur until the end of the Kediri Kingdom: it was the Singhasari Kingdom that witnessed ’the decline of Hindu culture and civilisation in Java and the succession of Javanese culture.’
[2]
Temple reliefs from earlier periods contain murals showing clubs, swords, bows and arrows, spears, shields, armour, knives, halberds.
[3]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[4]
[1]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [2]: (Rao 2005, 213) B V Rao. 2005. History of Asia. Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. New Dawn Press, Inc. Elgin. [3]: (Draeger 1972, 23, 27) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. [4]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Evidence for javelins, the archaeological data is meagre, is provided by two small fresco fragments from Knossos. The first, named by Evans as the "Captain of the Blacks" fresco -the fresco is heavily restored- portray an African striding quickly behind a male figure holding to light javelins.
[1]
The second known as the "Warriors Hurling Javelins" fresco depicts javelin-armed light infantry.
[2]
[1]: Evans, A. 1928. The Palace of Minos at Knossos, II:2, London, 756-57. [2]: Evans, A. 1930. The Palace of Minos at Knossos, III, London, 82. |
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"Imperial legionaries were primarily swordsmen who employed a heavy throwing spear (pilum) to disrupt their enemy before engaging in hand-to-hand combat."
[1]
According to Josephus, by first century CE only one throwing-spear used. In the 3rd century the lancea (light javelin) came into use, among similar weapons.
[2]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 41) [2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 43) |
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Preiser-Kapeller says present.
[1]
unarmoured cavalry known as trapezitoi carried two or three nine foot javelins.
[2]
[1]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) [2]: (O’Rourke 2010, 12) O’Rourke, M. 2010. The Land Forces of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire in the 10th Century. Canberra. |
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Did Spanish soldiers ever use New World weapons? Inferred use (even if rarely) against the Incas and Aztecs by Spanish soldiers. “Rocks provided an almost limitless supply of ammunition, and the wooden and stone arrows and javelins could also be manufactured in great numbers.”
[1]
We don’t know whether the Habsburgs use them themselves.
[1]: (Pemberton 2011, preview) Pemberton, John. 2011. Conquistadors: Searching for El Dorado: The Terrifying Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires. Canary Press eBooks Limited. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3SI549GS |
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NB: The following likely refers to a later period. Copper and sometimes bronze weapons found in hoards at Kallur (Hyderabad in the Deccan) include barbed spears and harpoons.
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 91) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997 (1965). Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Delhi. |
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Copper and sometimes bronze weapons found in non-Ayran Vedic-era hoards at Kallur (Hyderabad in the Deccan) include barbed spears and harpoons.
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 91) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997 (1965). Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Delhi. |
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Are thrown harpoons javelins? In the ’prehistoric age’ (not associated with the Aryans) at Fatehgarh in the upper Ganges valley and at Kallur in Hyderabad, Deccan, weapons of copper and sometimes bronze included barbed spears, harpoons and swords.
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 91) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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A military historian states the light cavalry of the Mauryans c200 BCE used a javelin in conjunction with a lance
[1]
- do Mauryan specialists agree? Have not been able to find data for the Satavahanas but we do know "cavalry had an important place in the Satavahana military organisation."
[2]
[1]: Gabriel, Richard A. The great armies of antiquity. p. 218-220 [2]: (Sharma 1996, 289) Ram Sharan Sharma. 1996. Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Delhi. |
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Vakataka - Gupta Age weapons included the javelin.
[1]
Soldiers were still using javelins under the later Rashtrakuta monarchs.
[2]
[1]: (Majumdar and Altekar 1986, 277) Anant Sadashiv Altekar. The Administrative Organisation. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar. Anant Sadashiv Altekar. 1986. Vakataka - Gupta Age Circa 200-550 A.D. Motilal Banarsidass. Delhi. [2]: N.S. Ramachandra Murthy, Military Administration of the Rashtrakutas in the Telugu Country, in B.R. Gopal, The Rashtrakutas of Malkhed (1994), p. 116 |
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"Images of Skanda abound in the outer walls sculpture of many Hoysala temples." Skanda, the ’war general of gods’, "is sometimes depicted with many weapons including: a sword, a javelin, a mace, a discus and a bow although more usually he is depicted wielding a sakti or spear."
[1]
[1]: (Chugh 2016) Lalit Chugh. 2016. Karnataka’s Rich Heritage. Art and Architecture. From Prehistoric Times to the Hoysala Period. Notion Press. Chennai. |
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Used throwing spears as a weapon of war.
[1]
[1]: (Otterbein 1964: 57) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KJNNGAQX. |
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Javelins are mentioned, but not in an explicitly military context: "Two games of the javelin are yet popular among the Onondagas. In one a group of boys may be seen with their hands full of peeled sumac sticks, often gayly colored. These they throw in the air, and often to a great distance, as they are very light. As a game it is simply a contest of throwing farthest, but a boy will sometimes amuse himself alone. The javelin and hoop requires opposing sides, as one must roll the hoop while the other throws the javelin at or through it. It is little played now."
[1]
[1]: Beauchamp 1896, 272 |
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Javelins are mentioned, but not in an explicitly military context: "Two games of the javelin are yet popular among the Onondagas. In one a group of boys may be seen with their hands full of peeled sumac sticks, often gayly colored. These they throw in the air, and often to a great distance, as they are very light. As a game it is simply a contest of throwing farthest, but a boy will sometimes amuse himself alone. The javelin and hoop requires opposing sides, as one must roll the hoop while the other throws the javelin at or through it. It is little played now."
[1]
[1]: Beauchamp 1896, 272 |
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A common weapon of the region.
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Egyptians had javelins and Libyans had "fire-hardened" javelins.
[1]
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) heavy cavalry carried two short bronze or iron tipped javelin (for stabbing and throwing). The Achaemenids invented this particular form of javelin (zhubin).
[2]
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 77) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 162) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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The xyston, or javelin, had been used since the time of Alexander the Great
[1]
, in addition to the sarissa, a pike up to 21m in length, was used by the Seleucid army.
[2]
[1]: Bar-Kochva, B. 1976. The Seleucid Army: Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.p74 [2]: Bar-Kochva, B. 1976. The Seleucid Army: Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.p54 |
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A staple in Hellenic and Roman armies, and for centuries previous.
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not mentioned in sources detailing A’chik weapons and tools
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"Ansa the king appeared in full state, accompanied by a large retinue. Before him went his men sounding trumpets and horns, carrying tinkling bells, and playing various kinds of drums, as well as other instruments, which were quite new to the Portuguese. His Gyasi men, that is, bodyguard, were armed with spears, javelins, shields, bows and arrows; on their heads they wore a sort of helmet made of skins thickly studded with shark’s teeth, the same kind of helmets one sees whenever a town company turns out in fighting attire, and as they came with their lord and master, they sang their popular martial airs. The subordinate rulers wore chains of gold and other ornaments, and each of them was attended by two pages, one carrying his master’s shield and arms, and the other a little round stool for him to sit on."
[1]
[1]: Sarbah, John Mensah 1968. “Fanti National Constitution: A Short Treatise On The Constitution And Government Of The Fanti, Asanti, And Other Akan Tribes Of West Africa Together With A Brief Account Of The Discovery Of The Gold Coast By Portuguese Navigators, A Short Narration Of Early English Voyages, And A Study Of The Rise Of British Gold Coast Jurisdiction, Etc., Etc.”, 57 |
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Javelins present in preceding period. “The Asante threw spears with great accuracy” before adopting the musket as their primary weapon after the turn of the 20th century.
[1]
Asante soldiers were javelin units who became musketeers; use of the matchlock and later flintlock or “Guinea gun” strengthened the armies of Asante and eventually replaced the archer and javelin, like the Akwamu and Denkira.
[2]
[1]: (261) Edgerton, R. 2010. The Fall of the Asante Empire: The Hundred-year War for Africa’s Gold Coast. Simon and Schuster. [2]: Hanserd, R. 2019. Identity, Spirit and Freedom in the Atlantic World: The Cold Coast and the African Diaspora. Routledge Press. |
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Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented".
[1]
Only flint, bone and copper tools tools have been found at Mehrgarh
[2]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX/q/kenoyer. [2]: Petrie, C. A. (in press) Chapter 11, Case Study: Mehrgarh. In, Barker, G and Goucher, C (eds.) Cambridge World History, Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE - 500 CE. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge |
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Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented".
[1]
Only flint, bone and copper tools tools have been found at Mehrgarh
[2]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX/q/kenoyer. [2]: Petrie, C. A. (in press) Chapter 11, Case Study: Mehrgarh. In, Barker, G and Goucher, C (eds.) Cambridge World History, Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE - 500 CE. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge |
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Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented".
[1]
Only flint, bone and copper tools tools have been found at Mehrgarh
[2]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX/q/kenoyer. [2]: Petrie, C. A. (in press) Chapter 11, Case Study: Mehrgarh. In, Barker, G and Goucher, C (eds.) Cambridge World History, Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE - 500 CE. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge |
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Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented" before the Indus period.
[1]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX. |
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Not mentioned in Cork’s (2005, 2006) reviews of evidence that the Harappans engaged in warfare.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Cork 2005) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ECMD5V2D/q/cork. [2]: (Cork 2006) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IQQCEMPC/q/cork. |
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Not mentioned in Cork’s (2005, 2006) reviews of evidence that the Harappans engaged in warfare.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Cork 2005) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ECMD5V2D/q/cork. [2]: (Cork 2006) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IQQCEMPC/q/cork. |
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Not included in list of metal artefacts (including weapons) found at Pirak, the best studied site: “[At Pirak] Several metal artifacts (flat axes and daggers) have shapes known from Harappan sites, but others (moulded daggers and arrowheads) represent technological innovations.”
[1]
First century BCE historian Diodorus Siculus narrates a battle between a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) and an Indian polity in which the Indians used javelins.
[2]
Javelins presumably thrown from war elephants. If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain then we code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included weapons of war. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[3]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: (Jarrige 2000: 353) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/R7PUFAT5/q/jarrige. [2]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Not included in list of metal artefacts (including weapons) found at Pirak, the best studied site: “[At Pirak] Several metal artifacts (flat axes and daggers) have shapes known from Harappan sites, but others (moulded daggers and arrowheads) represent technological innovations.”
[1]
First century BCE historian Diodorus Siculus narrates a battle between a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) and an Indian polity in which the Indians used javelins.
[2]
Javelins presumably thrown from war elephants. If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain then we code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included weapons of war. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[3]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: (Jarrige 2000: 353) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/R7PUFAT5/q/jarrige. [2]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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"Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
"There are a number of artistic depictions, from different eras, that show steppe warriors on horseback and armed with a javelin".
[2]
ET: Whilst searching for data for the Hephthalites I found this late 19th century quote from an encyclopaedia. I cannot confirm it refers to the Hephthalites but it mentions horsemen. Did the horse backed warriors also carry a javelin? Bone-tipped javelins are less likely to leave finds for archaeologists. "Like the Mongols they were a race of horsemen. They fought with bone-tipped javelins, with sabers, and with slings or lassoes. They ate herbs and half- raw meat, which they first used as saddles ; and they clothed themselves with the skins of wild animals”.
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. [2]: Karasulas, Antony. Mounted archers of the steppe 600 BC-AD 1300. Vol. 120. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p.28. |
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"There are a number of artistic depictions, from different eras, that show steppe warriors on horseback and armed with a javelin".
[1]
Bone-tipped javelins are less likely to leave finds for archaeologists. "Like the Mongols they were a race of horsemen. They fought with bone-tipped javelins, with sabers, and with slings or lassoes. They ate herbs and half- raw meat, which they first used as saddles ; and they clothed themselves with the skins of wild animals”.
[1]: Karasulas, Antony. Mounted archers of the steppe 600 BC-AD 1300. Vol. 120. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p.28. |
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According to the Cach-nama "the common weapons of the Indian soldiers in early medieval India were ’swords, shields, javelins, spears, and daggers.’ Other sources indicate that they also carried lances, maces and lassos."
[1]
[1]: (Eraly 2015) Abraham Eraly. 2015. The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate. Penguin. |
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War elephant crews sometimes could use bow and arrow, long spear or throw javelins.
[1]
[1]: (Bloom and Blair eds. 2009, 137) Johnathan M Bloom. Sheila S Blair. eds. 2009. Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set. Volume I. Abarquh To Dawlat Qatar. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
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War elephant crews sometimes could use bow and arrow, long spear or throw javelins.
[1]
Did the Samma ever use war elephants? The Samma, like the Soomras did not seem to have had access to Elephants, but did have access to cavalry.
[2]
[1]: (Bloom and Blair eds. 2009, 137) Johnathan M Bloom. Sheila S Blair. eds. 2009. Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set. Volume I. Abarquh To Dawlat Qatar. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: Panhwar, M. H. "Chronological Dictionary of Sind, (Karachi, 1983) pp. 192-3, 196-197 |
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Uzbek contingents and others tribal groups equipped with spears.
[1]
The Durrani was a gunpowder empire. The other weapons listed below were available, but not a major component to battle. The Persian influx of ḵompāra pistols, the tapānča and żarbza cannons, the bādlīj and ṣaff-pūzan show the presence of antiquated firearms by European standards, but these weapons were sufficient for conquest in the region. High quality firearms were also taken from the Sind and Mughal territories. However, common soldiers and levies could be equipped with the small caliber Snaphance hunting rifle or more primitive arms. Uzbek contingents and others tribal groups went into battle equipped with spears, battle axes, bows and arrows, or a single pistol during the period.
[1]
[1]: J. Hanway, An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, 4 vols., London, 1753 p. 252-4 |
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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Spears (probably handheld but could also be thrown?). ’The sizes and shapes of spears cast in middle Yayoi Japan, moreover, suggest that they had a ritual function. These, in contrast with the small spears imported from Korea in the early Yayoi period, ranged in length from fifty to ninety centimeters, to large and unwieldly for combat. Some were placed in graves as ritual objects that symbolized authority and power, but the longest were buried elsewhere, as if for some religious purpose.’
[1]
[1]: Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. p. 279 |
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Spears (small, could be thrown?) ’The sizes and shapes of spears cast in middle Yayoi Japan, moreover, suggest that they had a ritual function. These, in contrast with the small spears imported from Korea in the early Yayoi period, ranged in length from fifty to ninety centimeters, to large and unwieldly for combat. Some were placed in graves as ritual objects that symbolized authority and power, but the longest were buried elsewhere, as if for some religious purpose.’
[1]
[1]: Okazaki Takashi. Japan and the continent in the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Janet Goodwin trans. Delmer M Brown. ed. 1993. The Cambridge History of Japan. Volume 1. Ancient Japan. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. p. 279 |
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Could not find any evidence of use
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Could not find any evidence of use
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Could not find any evidence of use
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Could not find any evidence of use
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Could not find any evidence of use
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Could not find any evidence of use
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"The slighi is a wooden lance, the point of which is hardened in the fire. It is used as a missile and is hurled at the enemy. It is usually of ironwood ( bilian ), but palmwood javelin, especially inbery is also used. They are showered upon the enemy at the commencement of an engagement before the parties are close enough to use the spear, which never, or rarely leaves the hand."
[1]
[1]: Low & Ling Roth 1893, 52 |
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The slighi is a wooden lance, the point of which is hardened in the fire. It is used as a missile and is hurled at the enemy. It is usually of ironwood ( bilian ), but palmwood javelin, especially inbery is also used. They are showered upon the enemy at the commencement of an engagement before the parties are close enough to use the spear, which never, or rarely leaves the hand.
[1]
[1]: Low & Ling Roth 1893, 52 |
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Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these though
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these though
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these though
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting.
[1]
The harpoon could have been used for hunting or warfare. No evidence yet of a javelin weapon designed specifically for or in active use for warfare.
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting.
[1]
The harpoon could have been used for hunting or warfare. No evidence yet of a javelin weapon designed specifically for or in active use for warfare.
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
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Javelins were common weapons found in Chalcolithic Middle East and Levant.
[1]
The harpoon could have been used for hunting or warfare. No evidence yet of a javelin weapon designed specifically for or in active use for warfare.
[1]: (Anfinset 2016: 175) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4G68J7F3. |
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Javelin found at the EBA III site of Ikiztepe in northern Anatolia.
[1]
[1]: (Mellink 1987: 4) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JGB5S74T. |
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Bone harpoons found for a much earlier period. The harpoon could have been used for hunting or warfare. No evidence yet of a javelin weapon designed specifically for or in active use for warfare.
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Bone harpoons found for a much earlier period. The harpoon could have been used for hunting or warfare. No evidence yet of a javelin weapon designed specifically for or in active use for warfare.
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Gaebel (referring to New Kingdom Hittites) thinks it is "probable that the Hittite chariots carried javelin throwers and archers."
[1]
We currently have no closer reference than this, except for Lydia which follows.
[1]: (Gaebel 2002, 37) Robert E Gaebel. 2002. Cavalry Operations in the Ancient Greek World. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman. |
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"He removed the javelins and spears and all the weapons men use in war from their rooms and heaped them up in the women’s quarters lest any of them suspended above Atys should fall on him" Account of Croesus attempts to protect his son by Herodotus.
[1]
[1]: Pedley, J.G. 1972. Ancient Literary Sources on Sardis. Achaeological Exploration of Sardis. Monograph 2. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p.31 |
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“Odrysian Cavalry javelins were 1.5 to 1.8 metres in length, and tipped with iron or bronze heads. They could be thrown immediately before contact or used as a thrusting weapon.”
[1]
[1]: Webber, C. (2003) Odrysian Cavalry, Army, Equipment and Tactics. Bar International Series 1139, pp. 529-554. p549 |
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Along with other military innovations, javelin-type weapons appeared towards the end of the Bronze Age, like the later Roman iaculum, which was thin and not too long. Not a primary weapon for battle, recognized as being primarily used for hunting.
[1]
[1]: (Drews 1993: 180-81) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7RU9BBEB. |
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Certainly likely present toward end of period, if not earlier.
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Hastati and principes infantry carried two heavy iron-headed throwing spears called pilum.
[1]
Hastati and principes carried two types of-iron tipped pila (heavy and light). The triarii carried a hasta (long spear).
[2]
Velites (skirmishers) threw light javelins.
[1]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 15) [2]: (Fields 2007, 19) |
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"Hastati and principes ... carried a pair of pila (singular pilum), heavy (thus armour-piercing) throwing spears with a long iron head set in a wooden shaft. Pila were thrown at short range before the legionaries engaged their enemies at close quarters with the sword."
[1]
[1]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 15) |
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General reference for this time period in Europe: before it got heavier in the 14th and 15th centuries the mounted knight’s lance was light enough to be thrown.
[1]
The Papal State often used French mercenaries.
[1]: (Rogers 2007, 32) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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"In the report of the soldier Semen Epishev (1652) to the Yakutsk voivode Dmitrii Frantsebekov it says, incidentally: we came by seam to the mouth of the Okhta River and at that time at the mouth there were many clans of foreigner Tungus, a thousand and more, and they shot at us; they had harnesses and weapons, and shot at us with arrows and cast spears, wearing caps and helmets of iron and of bone, and did not want to let us to the Okhta--they wanted to kill us."
[1]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 635 |
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"In the report of the soldier Semen Epishev (1652) to the Yakutsk voivode Dmitrii Frantsebekov it says, incidentally: we came by seam to the mouth of the Okhta River and at that time at the mouth there were many clans of foreigner Tungus, a thousand and more, and they shot at us; they had harnesses and weapons, and shot at us with arrows and cast spears, wearing caps and helmets of iron and of bone, and did not want to let us to the Okhta--they wanted to kill us."
[1]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 635 |
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’The lance is a thrusting weapon but sometimes, although very rarely, it is employed as a missile.’
[1]
’Mortillet says that the javelin proper consists of a shaft 76 cm. in length made from a stalk of caña brava (Guadua latifolia), which is smooth on the outside but filled with pith and unusually light in weight. One of the extremities is closed by a plug made of a resistant wood for receiving the spur of the throwing stick. Into the other extremity is fixed a chonta point in the form of a very sharp prismatic prong about 22 cm in length.’
[2]
[1]: Rivet, Paul. 1907. “Jivaro Indians: Geographic, Historical And Ethnographic Research.”, 593 [2]: Stirling, Matthew Williams. 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians.", 86 |
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The lance is a thrusting weapon but sometimes, although very rarely, it is employed as a missile.
[1]
Mortillet says that the javelin proper consists of a shaft 76 cm. in length made from a stalk of caña brava (Guadua latifolia), which is smooth on the outside but filled with pith and unusually light in weight. One of the extremities is closed by a plug made of a resistant wood for receiving the spur of the throwing stick. Into the other extremity is fixed a chonta point in the form of a very sharp prismatic prong about 22 cm in length.
[2]
[1]: Rivet, Paul. 1907. “Jivaro Indians: Geographic, Historical And Ethnographic Research.”, 593 [2]: Stirling, Matthew Williams. 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians.", 86 |
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[1]
. refers to Greek mercenaries, who were likely used similar to Saite period and contemporary Greeks.
[2]
[1]: Everson, T. 2004. Warfare in Ancient Greece: Arms and Armour from the Heroes of Homer to Alexander the Great, Sutton. [2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 17) Christelle Fischer-Bovet. 2014. Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |
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no mention in sources so far consulted.
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no mention in sources so far consulted.
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no mention in sources so far consulted.
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The "spear appears to have remained relatively uncommon prior to the late Shang."
[1]
Spears, according to account of battle with Zhou.
[2]
Bronze spears.
[3]
Were these thrown or hand-held spears? Or both?
[1]: Sawyer, R. 2011. Ancient Chinese Warfare. Basic Books. [2]: (Cotterell 1995, 28) [3]: (Bavarian 2005) Bavarian, Behzad. July 2005. Unearthing Technology’s Influence on the Ancient Chinese Dynasties through Metallurgical Investigations, California State University. Northridge. http://library.csun.edu/docs/bavarian.pdf |
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Spears mentioned in relation to combat sound like handheld spears.
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Inferred from previous polity.
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Not mentioned by sources
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"Tomb guardian" warrior sculpture unearthed 1984 has arm held back in the action of throwing a spear (the spear is missing). However, the text speculates that the missing weapon is "believed to be a long knife".
[1]
"Native infantry were armed much as they had been in Han times, although a series of tomb figurines which appear to be throwing spears suggests that this practice - uncommmon among Chinese troops - was adopted by some in this period. They may have been foreign auxiliaries such as the Chi’ang, who are described as fighting with bows, spears and swords, and as scattering easily, which implies skirmishing tactics."
[2]
[1]: (Howard 2006, 108) Howard, Angela Falco. 2006. Chinese Sculpture. Yale University Press. [2]: (Peers 1995, 20) |
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Northern Wei had cavalry based warfare, so javelins seem unlikely
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Inferred due to being present in Sui
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Could not find any evidence of use
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"There are a number of artistic depictions, from different eras, that show steppe warriors on horseback and armed with a javelin".
[1]
ET: Whilst searching for data for the Hephthalites I found this late 19th century quote from an encyclopaedia. I cannot confirm it refers to the Hephthalites but it mentions horsemen. Did the horse backed warriors also carry a javelin? Bone-tipped javelins are less likely to leave finds for archaeologists. "Like the Mongols they were a race of horsemen. They fought with bone-tipped javelins, with sabers, and with slings or lassoes. They ate herbs and half- raw meat, which they first used as saddles ; and they clothed themselves with the skins of wild animals”.
[1]: Karasulas, Antony. Mounted archers of the steppe 600 BC-AD 1300. Vol. 120. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p.28. |
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|
"Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
"There are a number of artistic depictions, from different eras, that show steppe warriors on horseback and armed with a javelin".
[2]
ET: Whilst searching for data for the Hephthalites I found this late 19th century quote from an encyclopaedia. I cannot confirm it refers to the Hephthalites but it mentions horsemen. Did the horse backed warriors also carry a javelin? Bone-tipped javelins are less likely to leave finds for archaeologists. "Like the Mongols they were a race of horsemen. They fought with bone-tipped javelins, with sabers, and with slings or lassoes. They ate herbs and half- raw meat, which they first used as saddles ; and they clothed themselves with the skins of wild animals”.
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. [2]: Karasulas, Antony. Mounted archers of the steppe 600 BC-AD 1300. Vol. 120. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p.28. |
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"With the military system of the Liao dynasty, every regular soldier was provided with a full set of military equipment, including ... the long spear, the short spear, the short pole lance ..."
[1]
Was the short spear a thrown weapon?
[1]: (Huang and Hong 2018) Fuhua Huang. Fan Hong. 2018. A History of Chinese Martial Arts. Routledge. Abingdon. |
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Under the Seljuks, later period, ghulams or mamluks had javelins.
[1]
"Turkish weapons, 10th-12th centuries. An assortment of typical Turco-Mongol or Central Asian weapons fragments were found during archaeological excavations at the Citadel of Kuva. This area, close to the frontier with China, became the heartland of the Kara-Khanid Sultanate which rivalled the Seljuks for the domination of the north-eastern provinces of the Islamic world ... The weapons themselves, including parts of daggers, arrowheads and spearheads, would have been identical to those used by Seljuk warriors both here in Transoxania, in Iran and in Syria".
[2]
[1]: Nicolle, David. Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350: Islam, Eastern Europe and Asia. Rev. and updated ed. London : Mechanicsburg, Pa: Greenhill Books ; Stackpole Books, 1999. p.221. [2]: (Nicolle 2001, 51) Nicolle, David. 2001. The Crusades. Osprey Publishing. |
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Spear: "Depending on the length to weight ration [the spear] could serve either as a projectile, like a javelin, or as a thrusting implement. The latter function became more popular once the horse had been introduced into Arabia, during the fourth-second centuries BC, for the spear could be wielded more easily on horseback than the sword."
[1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 188) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. |
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Spear: "Depending on the length to weight ration [the spear] could serve either as a projectile, like a javelin, or as a thrusting implement. The latter function became more popular once the horse had been introduced into Arabia, during the fourth-second centuries BC, for the spear could be wielded more easily on horseback than the sword."
[1]
[1]: (Hoyland 2001, 188) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. |
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Present for Abbasid Caliphate: "In defence the abna were trained to maintain ranks behind their long pikes and broadswords however hard the enemy pressed, and then to fight hand-to-hand with short-swords and daggers. I attack, a short spear or javelin seems to have replaced the pike, and a mace might also have been added. Although abna were often armoured, they would also fight without cuirass or even shield."
[1]
[1]: (Nicolle 1982, 20) Nicolle, D. 1982. The Armies of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries. Osprey Publishing. |
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In the Ghaznavid armies there were "Daylamite infantrymen, who fought with their characteristic weapons of the spear and javelin".
[1]
Each man was equipped with three spears.
[2]
[1]: (Bosworth 1998, 113) in Bosworth, C E and Asimov M S. and Bosworth CE. 1998. History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 4. UNESCO. [2]: Busse, H. 1975. Iran under the Būyids. In Frye, R. N. (ed.) The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume 4. The period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuq’s. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.251 |
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The Sulayhids used African mercenaries
[1]
Sudanic cavalry used double-bladed lances, spears and javelins.
[2]
[1]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder. [2]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute. |
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|
According to one military historian (this data needs to be confirmed by a polity specialist) the Mauryan army used the bronze leaf-point javelin.
[1]
[2]
According to one military historian (this data needs to be confirmed by a polity specialist) the Indian cavalry of the time did not (much?) use the bow and relied on lance and javelin.
[3]
Inferred from continuity with Mauryan polity .
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 212) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies Of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Roy 2016, 19) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies Of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had ’long javelins’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’
[1]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. |
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"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare."
[1]
Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation rather than there being a complete shift to new weaponry. Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had ’long javelins’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’
[2]
The Harsha are a post-Gupta era polity so if they used the javelin and there was no major shift in weaponry until the Islamic invasion then the javelin was probably still in use at this time."
[1]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. [2]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. |
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|
Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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Javelins were a standard form of projectile delivered from war elephants. Not referenced but surely inferred present on the basis of elephants.
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|
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had ’long javelins’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’
[1]
"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare."
[2]
Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation but I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation.
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. [2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
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"The elite troops in the state of Wei had to ... strap a spear to their backs and a sword by their waists ..."
[1]
- I would infer thrown spear because it was short enough and light enough to be carried on the back, and because the soldier carried a sword for close-quarter combat.
[1]: (Ebrey and Walthall 2013, 23) Ebrey, Patricia. Walthall, Anne. 2013. Pre-Modern East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, Volume I: To 1800. Cengage Learning. |
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|
No reference and unlikely if battlefield dominated by crossbow and bows.
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|
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century).
[1]
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: throwing spears or javelin.
[2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. [2]: (Smith 1989, 64) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
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|
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century).
[1]
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: throwing spears or javelin.
[2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. [2]: (Smith 1989, 64) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
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The last Yuan emperor Toghon Temur returned to Mongolia and established the capital of his new Mongol state ("which extended from Manchuria to Kyrgystan") at Karakorum. At that time the MilTech codes would be the same as for the preceding Yuan China. Over the next decades the state lost territory and there was civil war at the start of the 15th century although in 1409 CE they still managed to rout a very large invading Ming army. The Ming attacked again but the Mongols were not conquered. Under an Oirat noble called Esen (1440-1455 CE) they invaded China in 1449 CE with 20,000 cavalry and captured the Ming emperor. In 1451 CE Esen overthrew the Mongol Khan but he wasn’t a direct descendent of Genghis Khan and was killed during a 1455 CE rebellion. His rule was followed by minor Khans who ruled a Mongolia in which the Khalkhas were one of three ’left-flank’ tumens (in addition to Chahars and Uriangqais). The state also had ’right-flank’ tumens (Ordos, Tumeds, Yunshebus) and the Oirats of western Mongolia. "These 6 tumens were major administrative units, often called ulus tumens (princedoms), comprising the 40 lesser tumens of the military-administrative type inherited from the Yuan period, each of which was reputedly composed of 10,000 cavalry troops ..."
[1]
The narrative suggests at least for 1400 CE and 1500 CE the army was cavalry based and in continuity with the preceding Yuan. The Yuan Dyansty is coded present for javelins so we are here suggesting some of the Late Mongol cavalry probably carried throwing spears to use in addition to their bow.
[1]: (Ishjamts 2003, 208-211) N Ishjamts. 2003. The Mongols. Chahryar Adle. Irfan Habib. Karl M Baipakov. eds. History Of Civilizations Of Central Asia. Volume V. Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. UNESCO Publishing. Paris. |
||||||
|
The last Yuan emperor Toghon Temur returned to Mongolia and established the capital of his new Mongol state ("which extended from Manchuria to Kyrgystan") at Karakorum. At that time the MilTech codes would be the same as for the preceding Yuan China. Over the next decades the state lost territory and there was civil war at the start of the 15th century although in 1409 CE they still managed to rout a very large invading Ming army. The Ming attacked again but the Mongols were not conquered. Under an Oirat noble called Esen (1440-1455 CE) they invaded China in 1449 CE with 20,000 cavalry and captured the Ming emperor. In 1451 CE Esen overthrew the Mongol Khan but he wasn’t a direct descendent of Genghis Khan and was killed during a 1455 CE rebellion. His rule was followed by minor Khans who ruled a Mongolia in which the Khalkhas were one of three ’left-flank’ tumens (in addition to Chahars and Uriangqais). The state also had ’right-flank’ tumens (Ordos, Tumeds, Yunshebus) and the Oirats of western Mongolia. "These 6 tumens were major administrative units, often called ulus tumens (princedoms), comprising the 40 lesser tumens of the military-administrative type inherited from the Yuan period, each of which was reputedly composed of 10,000 cavalry troops ..."
[1]
The narrative suggests at least for 1400 CE and 1500 CE the army was cavalry based and in continuity with the preceding Yuan. The Yuan Dyansty is coded present for javelins so we are here suggesting some of the Late Mongol cavalry probably carried throwing spears to use in addition to their bow.
[1]: (Ishjamts 2003, 208-211) N Ishjamts. 2003. The Mongols. Chahryar Adle. Irfan Habib. Karl M Baipakov. eds. History Of Civilizations Of Central Asia. Volume V. Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. UNESCO Publishing. Paris. |
||||||
|
The last Yuan emperor Toghon Temur returned to Mongolia and established the capital of his new Mongol state ("which extended from Manchuria to Kyrgystan") at Karakorum. At that time the MilTech codes would be the same as for the preceding Yuan China. Over the next decades the state lost territory and there was civil war at the start of the 15th century although in 1409 CE they still managed to rout a very large invading Ming army. The Ming attacked again but the Mongols were not conquered. Under an Oirat noble called Esen (1440-1455 CE) they invaded China in 1449 CE with 20,000 cavalry and captured the Ming emperor. In 1451 CE Esen overthrew the Mongol Khan but he wasn’t a direct descendent of Genghis Khan and was killed during a 1455 CE rebellion. His rule was followed by minor Khans who ruled a Mongolia in which the Khalkhas were one of three ’left-flank’ tumens (in addition to Chahars and Uriangqais). The state also had ’right-flank’ tumens (Ordos, Tumeds, Yunshebus) and the Oirats of western Mongolia. "These 6 tumens were major administrative units, often called ulus tumens (princedoms), comprising the 40 lesser tumens of the military-administrative type inherited from the Yuan period, each of which was reputedly composed of 10,000 cavalry troops ..."
[1]
The narrative suggests at least for 1400 CE and 1500 CE the army was cavalry based and in continuity with the preceding Yuan. The Yuan Dyansty is coded present for javelins so we are here suggesting some of the Late Mongol cavalry probably carried throwing spears to use in addition to their bow.
[1]: (Ishjamts 2003, 208-211) N Ishjamts. 2003. The Mongols. Chahryar Adle. Irfan Habib. Karl M Baipakov. eds. History Of Civilizations Of Central Asia. Volume V. Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. UNESCO Publishing. Paris. |
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’The beha is held under-grip in the warrior’s left hand, which also contrives to hold a club and even an extra spear. His right hand poises or brandishes the spear which he is about to throw, giving little jerks which cause it to vibrate like a twanged string.’
[1]
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 84 |
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The beha is held under-grip in the warrior’s left hand, which also contrives to hold a club and even an extra spear. His right hand poises or brandishes the spear which he is about to throw, giving little jerks which cause it to vibrate like a twanged string.
[1]
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 84 |
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|
"Spears were used from the Palaeolithic period for hunting, both handheld and as projectiles, and also served as weapons in early times, though it was not until the Middle Bronze Age when socketed metal spearheads began to be developed that spear superseded arrows as the preferred projectile. Their frequency in Bronze and Iron Age burials shows that they were used by all warriors and particularly by fighters who did not own a sword."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2006, 298) |
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|
"Spears were used from the Palaeolithic period for hunting, both handheld and as projectiles, and also served as weapons in early times, though it was not until the Middle Bronze Age when socketed metal spearheads began to be developed that spear superseded arrows as the preferred projectile. Their frequency in Bronze and Iron Age burials shows that they were used by all warriors and par- ticularly by fighters who did not own a sword."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2006, 298) |
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|
"Spears were used from the Palaeolithic period for hunting, both handheld and as projectiles, and also served as weapons in early times, though it was not until the Middle Bronze Age when socketed metal spearheads began to be developed that spear superseded arrows as the preferred projectile. Their frequency in Bronze and Iron Age burials shows that they were used by all warriors and par- ticularly by fighters who did not own a sword."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2006, 298) |
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Finds within France during this time period but not close to Paris Basin region.
[1]
Javelins used on the continent.
[2]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Koch ed. 2006, 1469) John T. Koch ed. Celtic Culture. A historical Encyclopedia. Volume I. A-Celti. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara. |
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Finds within France during this time period but not close to Paris Basin region.
[1]
Javelins used on the continent.
[2]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Koch ed. 2006, 1469) John T. Koch ed. Celtic Culture. A historical Encyclopedia. Volume I. A-Celti. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara. |
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|
Finds within France during this time period but not close to Paris Basin region.
[1]
Javelins used on the continent.
[2]
[1]: (http://www.chronocarto.ens.fr/gcserver/atlas#) [2]: (Koch ed. 2006, 1469) John T. Koch ed. Celtic Culture. A historical Encyclopedia. Volume I. A-Celti. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara. |
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|
No mention of javelin in this review of medieval weapons in France.
[1]
Weapons that might challenge the military order were suppressed, especially missile bases weapons, like javelins.
[2]
[1]: (Boulton 1995 67-68) Jonathan D Boulton. Armor And Weapons. William W Kibler. Grover A Zinn. Lawrence Earp. John Bell Henneman Jr. 1995. Routledge Revivals: Medieval France (1995): An Encyclopedia. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: (Nicolle 1991, 8) David Nicolle. 2000. French Armies Of The Hundred Years War. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
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Absent in previous and subsequent periods.
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Lances, swords, crossbowmen, longbows, pikemen were of central importance on the battlefield for at least 200 years after the first guns until the Battle of Carignola (1503 CE) which was probably decided by guns and Marignano (1515 CE) when Swiss squares were beaten by cavalry shooting pistols and cannon artillery.
[1]
The first Bourbon era 1589-1660 CE is firmly after the transition to firearm dominance so at this time the old weapons must have played only a minor role in warfare or had been completely abandoned.
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 367) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors typically required the spear.
[1]
Vedic sources connect charioteering with spear.
[2]
Presumably this is a spear that could be thrown from the chariot?
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. [2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. |
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|
"In the 12th century BC chariot warfare tactics lost their importance in Andronovo society; mounted horsemen armed with bows and arrows replaced chariot drivers."
[1]
Tazabagyab culture is considered to have had its origin in Andronovo culture.
[2]
Andronovo culture (2000-900 BCE, Alakul phase 2100-1400 BCE, Fedorovo phase 1400-1200 BCE, Alekseyevka phase 1200-1000 BCE). Tazabagyab culture (15th - 11th), Suyarganskaya culture (11th - 9th), Amirabad culture (9th - 8th).
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 138) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. [2]: (Mallory 1997, 20-21) J P Mallory. Andronovo culture. J P Mallory. D Q Adams. eds. 1997. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Chicago. |
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"There are a number of artistic depictions, from different eras, that show steppe warriors on horseback and armed with a javelin".
[1]
ET: Whilst searching for data for the Hephthalites I found this late 19th century quote from an encyclopaedia. I cannot confirm it refers to the Hephthalites but it mentions horsemen. Did the horse backed warriors also carry a javelin? Bone-tipped javelins are less likely to leave finds for archaeologists. "Like the Mongols they were a race of horsemen. They fought with bone-tipped javelins, with sabers, and with slings or lassoes. They ate herbs and half- raw meat, which they first used as saddles ; and they clothed themselves with the skins of wild animals”.
[1]: Karasulas, Antony. Mounted archers of the steppe 600 BC-AD 1300. Vol. 120. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p.28. |
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Under the Seljuks, later period, ghulams or mamluks had javelins.
[1]
It can be inferred the weapon still had military use at this earlier time.
[1]: Nicolle, David. Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350: Islam, Eastern Europe and Asia. Rev. and updated ed. London : Mechanicsburg, Pa: Greenhill Books ; Stackpole Books, 1999. p.221. |
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"The Janid dynasty, which had fled from Astrakhan (for this reason also known as Astrakhanids), rose to power in the Bukhara khanate in 1599, and reigned until 1785."
[1]
The Janid Dynasty were considered to be "vassal amirs or khans of the Persian Empire."
[2]
"The Uzbeks were nomadic Turkic-Mongol tribes who invaded Transoxania from Siberia beginning in the late fifteenth century ... Tajik referred to nontribal sedentary peoples of the area, whether Iranian or Turkic speaking. During the history of the khanate, Uzbeks were the ruling nobility, and Tajiks made up the bureaucracy and merchant class."
[3]
Hazara infantry and Uzbek cavalry used against Mughals in the mid-seventeenth century.
[4]
"Since gunpowder weapons were not very useful against the dispersed, fast-moving Uzbek cavalry, which posed the principal threat to the Safavids, the latter did not have a strong incentive to create a firepower-rich, albeit lumbering, army."
[5]
At least in the early to mid-16th century "The Ottomans’ strategy was to arm the Uzbeks as a counterweight to the Safavids."
[6]
These references suggest: the Janid dynasty was Uzbek origin; its army was predominantly cavalry in the nomadic traditions of this ruling class; for infantry they may have had to employ non-Uzbeks (e.g. the Hazara); the idea of a cavalry heavy army supported by the army of the Safavid Persians which was specialised to meet the Uzbek threat; Safavid MilTech codes may provide the best proxy for the weapons/armour used by the infantry employed by the Uzbek rulers and also for the Uzbek cavalry. The Safavids had ’combat spears’ which were designed to be thrown in battle.
[7]
[1]: (Capisani 2000, 105) Giampaolo R Capisani. 2000. The handbook of central Asia: a comprehensive survey of the new republics. I.B. Tauris. [2]: (Mojtahed-Zadeh 2004, 20) Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh. 2004. The Small Players of the Great Game: The Settlement of Iran’s Eastern Borderlands and the Creation of Afghanistan. Routledge. London. [3]: (Stanley 2007, 97) Bruce Stanley. Bukhara. Michael Dumper. Bruce E. Stanley. eds. 2007. Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbara. [4]: (Roy 2014, 111-112) Kaushik Roy. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Academic. London. [5]: (Roy 2014, 46) Kaushik Roy. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Academic. London. [6]: (Roy 2014, 47) Kaushik Roy. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Academic. London. [7]: Farrokh, Kaveh. Iran at War, 1500-1988. Oxford : Osprey Publishing, 2011. chapter three. |
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|
Spears are present (see below), but no mention of whether they were thrown or used in close-combat; given the presence of firearms, the latter seems more likely.
|
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|
[Spears are present (see below) but no mention of whether they were thrown or used in close-combat; given the presence of firearms, the latter seems more likely.]
|
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|
"As with the rest of the Near East, there is little evidence for warfare in Neolithic Mesopotamia."
[1]
[1]: (Hamblin 2006: 33) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4WM3RBTD. |
||||||
|
"We have no evidence for warfare. In contrast with later periods, ’Ubaid seals show no depictions of weapons, prisoners, or combat scenes".
[1]
[1]: (Stein 1994: 39) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/V94SXJRJ. |
||||||
|
A Late Uruk cylinder seal "shows an early arms factory making bows and bronze daggers, and perhaps javelins as well".
[1]
[1]: (Hamblin 2006:40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4WM3RBTD. |
||||||
|
A Late Uruk cylinder seal "shows an early arms factory making bows and bronze daggers, and perhaps javelins as well".
[1]
[1]: (Hamblin 2006:40) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4WM3RBTD. |
||||||
|
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions of equally detailed military iconography.
|
||||||
|
Present.
[1]
What did this reference say? "Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[2]
[1]: Rutkowski 2007, 23 [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
The thrown spear was present as a weapon of war during the first Abbasid
[1]
period and under the Buyids.
[2]
[1]: (Nicolle 1982, 20) Nicolle, D. 1982. The Armies of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Bosworth 1998, 113) in Bosworth, C E and Asimov M S. and Bosworth CE. 1998. History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 4. UNESCO. |
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|
Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found for this time, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found for this area since Palaeolithic times, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found since the Paleolithic, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
According to a military historian (a polity specialist ought to be able to elaborate on this claim): "Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found since the Paleolithic, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these.
[1]
According to a military historian (a polity specialist ought to be able to elaborate on this claim): "Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Bone harpoons found since the Paleolithic, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these though
[1]
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): "Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
This passage does not say the javelin had no role at all. The weapon may have had a secondary role. The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
||||||
|
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
This passage does not say the javelin had no role at all. The weapon may have had a secondary role. The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
||||||
|
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
This passage does not say the javelin had no role at all. The weapon may have had a secondary role. The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
||||||
|
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
This passage does not say the javelin had no role at all. The weapon may have had a secondary role. The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
||||||
|
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
The weapon may have had a secondary role. The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
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"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
The weapon may have had a secondary role. The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
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"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
This passage does not say the javelin had no role at all. The weapon may have had a secondary role. The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
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"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
The weapon may have had a secondary role. The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. |
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"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
There now is also an Iron Age reference for the use of the javelin by horse riders: ‘the iconographic emergence of a distinctive equestrian art characterized by a rider on a leaping horse in the act of firing an arrow or throwing a spear at a rearing animal or human.’
[3]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. [3]: Javier Alvarez-Mon, ‘Elam in the Iron Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 465 |
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"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[1]
The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE.
[2]
There now is also an Iron Age reference for the use of the javelin by horse riders: ‘the iconographic emergence of a distinctive equestrian art characterized by a rider on a leaping horse in the act of firing an arrow or throwing a spear at a rearing animal or human.’
[3]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. [3]: Javier Alvarez-Mon, ‘Elam in the Iron Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 465 |
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"The weapons used in the military forces of the Anatolian Principalities were bow and arrow, sword, shield, javelin, dagger, club, axe, catapult and arrade."
[1]
[1]: (1994, 365) Ibrahim Kafesoglu. Ahmet Edip Uysal. Erdogan Mercil. Hidayet Yavuz Nuhoglu. 1994. A short history of Turkish-Islamic states (excluding the Ottoman state). Turkish Historical Society Printing House. |
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Inferred from absence of javelins in subsequent polities in Upper Egypt
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not among discovered weapons
[1]
"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18). Comparatively large numbers of maceheads have been excavated at late Predynastic and Protodynastic sites."
[2]
[1]: Gilbert, G. P. 2004. Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt. BAR International Series 1208: Oxford. pg: 22-23, 70-71. [2]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18). Comparatively large numbers of maceheads have been excavated at late Predynastic and Protodynastic sites."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The weaponry being used by the Egyptians and their opponents--a combination of bows and arrows, shields, spears and axes--remained virtually unchanged from the Sixth to Thirteenth Dynasties".
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 37) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The weaponry being used by the Egyptians and their opponents--a combination of bows and arrows, shields, spears and axes--remained virtually unchanged from the Sixth to Thirteenth Dynasties".
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 37) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)."
[1]
Regular troops carried javelins and axes.
[2]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. [2]: (Garcia ed. 2013, 433) |
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"The principal weapons in the late Predynastic and Protodynastic Periods were undoubtedly the bow and arrow, spear, axe and mace. These are frequently shown in relief depictions of hunting and battle scenes (figure 18)."
[1]
Regular troops carried javelins and axes.
[2]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 31) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. [2]: (Garcia ed. 2013, 433) |
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Javelins common in this period.
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Relative to this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so the absence of weapons other than the atlatl and spears in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Relative to this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so the absence of weapons other than the atlatl and spears in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include javelins. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include javelins. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include javelins. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include javelins. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include javelins. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include javelins. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias.
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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Weapons other than obsidian swords, bows and arrows, slings, spears and atlatls are not known for this period.
[1]
[1]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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These do not appear to be included in depictions of "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age, as reproduced in Jung (1991).
[1]
However, Jung himself does not state these were not in use, nor does he remark on their absence in said depictions.
[1]: (Jung 1991) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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These do not appear to be included in depictions of "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age, as reproduced in Jung (1991).
[1]
However, Jung himself does not state these were not in use, nor does he remark on their absence in said depictions.
[1]: (Jung 1991) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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Harpoons with bone points.
[1]
Stone spears existed in the Neolithic, however, according to Sawyer (2011) the"Spear appears to have remained relatively uncommon prior to the late Shang."
[2]
More research needed.
[1]: (Peregrine 2001: 283) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QUL2KD3Z. [2]: (Sawyer 2011: 428) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RTEZZDY8. |
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