| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
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"In Mesoamerica [...] tools that could double as weapons, including handheld spears and spearthrowers (atlatls) [...] have been found as early as 4000 BC".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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Evidence of daggers, halberds, arrows, and flat axes in burials but sources discuss evidence of spears, javelins and spearheads appear towards the beginning of the Bronze Age.
[1]
[1]: (Guilaine 2008: 64) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/LZB53FDH. |
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"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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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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Inferred from the absence of spears in previous and subsequent polities in the Niger Inland Delta.
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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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Handheld thrusting spears absent.
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Handheld thrusting spears absent.
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Handheld thrusting spears absent.
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Handheld thrusting spears absent.
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Handheld thrusting spears absent.
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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]
If "the first archaeologically recognizable, large post-Indus urban settlements are not earlier than the fifth century BC ... solidly visible states ... appear in a sudden profusion in the late first millennium B.C."
[2]
- who was king Stabrobates of India who used war elephants against a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) in the 9th century BCE?
[3]
One could infer king Stabrobates, if not based there himself, must have subdued and controlled the Kachi Plain region in order to invade Mesopotamia from ’India’. (Another source says Assyria invaded India and were driven out of Pakistan and India).
[4]
Diodorus Siculus says this too, queen Semiramis was based in Bactra (Bactria?).
[5]
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
[6]
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]: (Ahmed 2014, 64) Mukhtar Ahmed. 2014. Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume V: The End of the Harappan Civilization, and the Aftermath. Foursome Group. [3]: (Mayor 2014, 289) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [4]: (Kistler 2007, 18) John M Kistler. 2007. War Elephants. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. [5]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [6]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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-
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"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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-
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-
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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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According to the Chinese Nan chou i wu chih (A Record of Strange Things in the Southern Regions) written about 222-228 CE a volcanic country called ’Ge-ying’ (thought to be western Java) traded with the Malay Peninsula and imported horses from India. They were used by warriors.
[1]
Dewawarman I may have founded Salakanagara in west West Java 130 CE. He followed Aji Saka who may have introduced ’Buddhism, letters, calendar, etc.’) into Central and East Java 78 CE.
[2]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’lance’: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[3]
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2017, 215) John Norman Miksic. Geok Yian Goh. Routledge. 2017. Ancient Southeast Asia. London. p. 215 [2]: (Iguchi 2015) Masatoshi Iguchi. 2015. Java Essay: The History and Culture of a Southern Country. Troubador Publishing Ltd. [3]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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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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|
"Although the four analysed Harappan blades (interpreted as spears) do not have a great deal of tin (maximum 2.6 per cent), neither do the Levantine tanged and riveted spearheads: tin is not present in 15 of 20 such spears, and only one example has over 0.5 per cent." However, Cork himself notes that the scholarly consensus is that there is little direct evidence for warfare in the region at this time, and that Indus weaponry has been interpreted as having been used for hunting rather than fighting.
[1]
A copper spearhead has been uncovered at Nausharo.
[2]
[1]: (Cork 2005: 413, 416) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ECMD5V2D/q/cork. [2]: Agrawal, D. P. (2007) The Indus Civilization: An interdisciplinary perspective. Aryan Books International: New Delhi. PL. 6.20. |
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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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|
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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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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|
Spear and blades dominated Indonesian warfare
[1]
"Weapons, notably axes, clubs, swords, and daggers, seem to have been Indian, though the curved swords are of a later type than those on the Central Javanese reliefs. The reappearance of the spear in these reliefs, while the use of the bow is confined to human heroes, suggests an increasing pressure to resume use of local types of weapons."
[2]
[1]: (Gaukroger 2009, 134) [2]: (Powell 2002, 325) John Powell. 2002. Weapons & Warfare: Ancient and medieval weapons and warfare (to 1500). Salem Press. |
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"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[1]
[1]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. |
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"The Muhammadan soldiers carried ’shields, javelins and Turkish bows with many bombs and spears and fire missiles."
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Present in previous and subsequent polities.
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Illustration shows handheld spear.
[1]
According to one historian (experted needed to check data applicable to this polity) spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
[1]: (Sekunda, N. (author) McBride (Illustrator). Seleucid and Ptolemaic Reformed Armies) [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Code for Lombard Kingdom.
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Present in preceding and succeeding polities.
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According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49) |
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There was no significant change in arms—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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"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
Lances were used by Sassanian cavalrymen.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. |
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’But al-jirafi goes on, more importantly, to relate that al-Ahmar wrote al-Mansur al-Husayn a brusque letter demanding a meeting. The Imam feared an attempt at assassination; so he assassinated al Ahmar first, stuck his head on a lance, and galloped off with it through a hail of bullets from the shaykh’s enraged tribesmen (aljirafi 1951: 182). In fact, al-Ahrnar, accompanied by Bin juzaylan of DhU Muhammad and by Ahmad Muhammad Hubaysh of Sufyan, seems to have come to ’Asir, just outside San’a’, to seek a settlement (Zabarah 1941: 539 and 1958: 486). The details are probably lost forever, and we are told only that al-Ahmar ’had wished to make independent his own rule of part of the country’ (ibid.), which he very well may have done; but al-Mansur alHusayn’s view of the matter, as recorded in the histories, has all the vigorous clarity of the Zaydi tradition. The taunt to the tribesmen at the time was, typically, that they were no better than polytheists: he brandished al-Ahmar’s head on his spear and cried ’this is the head of your idol’.’
[1]
This could be ’present’ but I don’t understand the context/time period from the quote so inferred present until more specific information.
[1]: Dresch, Paul 1989. "Tribes, Government and History in Yemen", 203p |
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Spears.
[1]
The Sulayhids used African mercenaries
[2]
Sudanic cavalry used double-bladed lances, spears and javelins.
[3]
[1]: (Stookey 1978, 68) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder. [2]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder. [3]: 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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[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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Pikes, lances.
[1]
[1]: (Bradley 2009, 54) Bradley, Peter T. 2009. Spain and the Defense of Peru: Royal Reluctance and Colonial Self-Reliance. Lulu.com. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/VFMNE6JR |
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Islanders used slings, spears, and clubs: ’Within districts, conflict arose over land, succession to chiefship, theft, adultery, and avenging homicide. Between districts, it arose over attentions to local women by outside men, the status of one district as subordinate to another, and rights of access to fishing areas. Formal procedures for terminating conflict between districts involved payments of valuables and land by the loosing to the winning side. Fighting involved surprise raids and prearranged meetings on a field of battle. Principle weapons were slings, spears, and clubs. Firearms, introduced late in the nineteenth century, were confiscated by German authorities in 1903. Martial arts included an elaborate system of throws and holds by which an unarmed man could kill, maim or disarm an armed opponent.’
[1]
’Fighting skills in aboriginal times included knowledge of the manufacture as well [Page 54] as of the use of the various weapons: the club, spear, sling, knuckle-duster, and in more recent time the knife and rifle. Of great importance, too, was a knowledge of the various holds in a system of hand-to-hand encounter remotely reminiscent of Japanese jiujitsu. To acquire these skills required considerable practice. In aboriginal times the various lineages used to hold periodic month-long training course in their respective meeting houses. Although each political district fought engagements as a united military group, training was given independently by the various lineages. Those present were the men of the lineage, the husbands of its women, and the sons of its men, in conformance with the pattern of confining the transmission of knowledge to one’s children and one’s lineage mates. It is said that by no means everyone knew all of the various weapons nor all of the tricks of hand-to-hand fighting. Knowledge of the proper magic was required in the manufacture of the several weapons and also to increase the effectiveness of their use thereafter. It is not surprising, therefore, that fighting skills were treated in the same way as other types of incorporeal property.’
[2]
Gladwin relates an incident in which spears were used in combat: ’When the men got close, they saw there were a lot of people brandishing weapons, and they conferred. They decided they would just go on in, fend off the weapons as best they could, but not say anything until they were recognized, for they realized what had happened. The old man asked who would go first, and the young men said they would go first and the old man afterwards so he would not get hurt; he was to remain behind them. So they went in the door of the house. The chief said, “Spear them!” So they stabbed with their spears, but the young men warded them all off; they grabbed the spears and hurled them away. Then they slashed with the knives, but the two men got them too, tucked them under their arms and then plowed in. Then the chief told them to stop, to wait a minute, for these were remarkable people. He asked, “Who are you?” “We.” “Who?”, and they told him their names. Then they threw their arms around them and greeted them and were very happy. They asked them where they had come from, and they told them, and they were still happier. Then they got out food, and they and all their relatives sat down to eat. They feasted that night and on and on. For a whole week they did nothing but feast because they were so happy. That is all.’
[3]
[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk [2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 53 [3]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 624 |
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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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Lances.
[1]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: "On horseback, the principal weapon was a 10-foot-long wooden lance carried with a small wedge-shaped shield and sometimes a short, steel-handled battleaxe."
[2]
[1]: (Potter 2008, 78) [2]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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"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]
obsidian and stone spearpoints have been found archaeologically, and there is evidence for their militaristic use in both Formative Mesoamerican and Classic Teotihuacano 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, 30-1, 47-8. [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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"In Mesoamerica [...] tools that could double as weapons, including handheld spears and spearthrowers (atlatls) [...] have been found as early as 4000 BC".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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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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[1]
The Wanka people carried spears in the Inca army.
[2]
and lances: "The whole fortress was a deposit of arms, clubs, lances, bows, axes, shields, doublets thickly padded with cotton and other arms of various sorts ..."
[3]
Lances.
[4]
[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 345) [2]: (Kaufmann and Kaufmann 2012) [3]: (Bauer 2004, 100-101; cite: Sancho) [4]: (Bauer 2004, 102; cite: Pedro Pizzaro) |
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The principal weapon is the spear, of which several varieties are distinguished.’
[1]
’One or two varieties of hard-woods are used for spears, but these weapons as well as the wooden ‘sword’ are usually made from the tough and springy Koropa palm.’
[2]
’The significance of warfare to Orokaivan men is obvious but several descriptions suggest that Orokaivan women were also directly involved. Women had their own weapon, a quarterstaff ‘poreha’ (Williams 1930:163) and on at least one occasion joined in with the men in spear fighting. On most occasions it seems that women used only their staffs and fought alongside men in aggressive sham fights between clans (Waiko 1972, Williams 1930:162-163). They were more noted for their verbal contribution. The people most difficult to pacify were women, who, while doing little actual violence with their … quarterstaffs, were very successfully inciting to violence with their tongues (Williams 1930:163).’
[3]
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 80 [2]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 16 [3]: Newton, Janice. 1983. “Orokaiva Warfare And Production.”, 492 |
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|
Spears. The principal weapon is the spear, of which several varieties are distinguished.
[1]
One or two varieties of hard-woods are used for spears, but these weapons as well as the wooden ‘sword’ are usually made from the tough and springy Koropa palm.
[2]
The significance of warfare to Orokaivan men is obvious but several descriptions suggest that Orokaivan women were also directly involved. Women had their own weapon, a quarterstaff ‘poreha’ (Williams 1930:163) and on at least one occasion joined in with the men in spear fighting. On most occasions it seems that women used only their staffs and fought alongside men in aggressive sham fights between clans (Waiko 1972, Williams 1930:162-163). They were more noted for their verbal contribution. The people most difficult to pacify were women, who, while doing little actual violence with their … quarterstaffs, were very successfully inciting to violence with their tongues (Williams 1930:163).
[3]
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 80 [2]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 16 [3]: Newton, Janice. 1983. “Orokaiva Warfare And Production.”, 492 |
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|
The coins from the period show lancers of the Greek style.
[1]
Yuezhi (Kushan) find at Tillya-Tepe: "decorative gold clasp depicted a Greek infantryman in a cuirass breastplate carrying a spear and an oval shield."
[2]
[1]: Sidky, H., The Greek Kingdom of Bactria, from Alexander to Eucratides the Great, Oxford, 2000, pp. 168-169 [2]: (McLaughlin 2016, 78) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. |
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|
"In the midst of pieces that are hard to identify fragments of points, the only object that is more or less complete in these levels is a spear-head whose point is quite blunt." It is unknown whether the object is copper or bronze, but most other objects in later periods were tested as bronze.
[1]
Spearheads have been found in other Late Harappan contexts.
[2]
[1]: Jarrige, J-F. (1979) Fouilles de Pirak. Paris : Diffusion de Boccard. p361 [2]: Agrawal, D. P. (2007) The Indus Civilization: An interdisciplinary perspective. Aryan Books International: New Delhi. p210 |
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|
"Although the four analysed Harappan blades (interpreted as spears) do not have a great deal of tin (maximum 2.6 per cent), neither do the Levantine tanged and riveted spearheads: tin is not present in 15 of 20 such spears, and only one example has over 0.5 per cent." However, Cork himself notes that the scholarly consensus is that there is little direct evidence for warfare in the region at this time, and that Indus weaponry has been interpreted as having been used for hunting rather than fighting.
[1]
A copper spearhead has been uncovered at Nausharo.
[2]
[1]: (Cork 2005: 413, 416) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/ECMD5V2D/q/cork. [2]: Agrawal, D. P. (2007) The Indus Civilization: An interdisciplinary perspective. Aryan Books International: New Delhi. PL. 6.20. |
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|
"Besides the points of arrows which apparently are identical among all the natives of Siberia, the Yakut also have other iron weapons which have retained to the present day their ancient and original shapes. To such weapons belongs the Yakut war spear, (fig. 126). Its blade is more than three-quarters of one arshin long, with a straight, dull back and a sharp point; in the middle the point becomes slightly wider so that it forms a broken line. At the handle it is one and one-quarter inches wide, and at the widest place, one and one-half inches. It is one-eighth of an inch thick. Its birchwood handle becomes narrower toward the end. At the blade it is no more than one inch in diameter. Frequently it is bound with the sinews of cattle, covered with nielloed hideand decorated on both sides with two narrow longtitudinal strips of white birch. In general the batas is a good-looking, light war weapon, once greatly loved by the Yakut. It can be used both as a bayonet and a battle axe."
[1]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 637 |
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"Besides the points of arrows which apparently are identical among all the natives of Siberia, the Yakut also have other iron weapons which have retained to the present day their ancient and original shapes. To such weapons belongs the Yakut war spear, (fig. 126). Its blade is more than three-quarters of one arshin long, with a straight, dull back and a sharp point; in the middle the point becomes slightly wider so that it forms a broken line. At the handle it is one and one-quarter inches wide, and at the widest place, one and one-half inches. It is one-eighth of an inch thick. Its birchwood handle becomes narrower toward the end. At the blade it is no more than one inch in diameter. Frequently it is bound with the sinews of cattle, covered with nielloed hideand decorated on both sides with two narrow longtitudinal strips of white birch. In general the batas is a good-looking, light war weapon, once greatly loved by the Yakut. It can be used both as a bayonet and a battle axe."
[1]
[1]: Sieroszewski, Wacław. 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research.”, 637 |
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Lances and swords used by Masamida Berbers.
[1]
The Fatimid arsenals contained lances and spears.
[2]
"While the styles of weapons varied according to region and time period, the warriors of the Crusader era generally employed many of the same types of weapons used during the first Islamic centuries - coasts of mail, helmets, shields, swords, spears, lances, knives, iron maces, lassos, bows, arrows, and naft (or Greek fire)."
[3]
[1]: (Lev 1987, 342) [2]: (Hamblin 2005, 749) Shillington, K. ed. 2005. Encyclopedia of African History: A - G.. 1. Taylor & Francis. [3]: (Lindsay 2005, 78) Lindsay, James E. 2005. Daily Life in The Medieval Islamic World. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Indianapolis. |
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|
[1]
According to a military historian (requires check by polity expert): Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
[1]: Collins B.J.(2007) The Hittites and Their World, (Society of Biblical literature archaeology and Biblical studies; no. 7), Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, pp. 107 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
Quite big, bronze forks were used as weapons, according to statements of great Near Eastern archaeologists, T. Ǒzgüç and K. Bittel. Forks were mostly found as grave offerings during the karum II period.
[1]
Spears
[1]
The bronze was produced locally, by Anatolian metalworkers, to make tools, weapons, and household objects, many of which have been found in the houses and graves of the kārum: spearheads, axes, daggers, forks, needles, nails, and chains
[2]
[1]: Yıldırım T. 2010. Weapons of Kültepe. [in:] Kulakoğlu F., Kangal S. (eds.) Anatolia’s Prologue, Kültepe Kanesh Karum, Assyrians in Istambul. Istambul. pg. 121 [2]: Cécile Michel, ‘The Kārum Period on the Plateau’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 325 |
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|
"Byzantine heavy cavalry were armed more after the fashion of westerners where it could be afforded"
[1]
Present.
[2]
[1]: (Haldon 2008, 477) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Johannes Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences. Personal Communication |
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|
[1]
According to a military historian (data requires check by polity expert): Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
[1]: Collins B.J.(2007) The Hittites and Their World, (Society of Biblical literature archaeology and Biblical studies; no. 7), Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, pp. 107 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
[1]
According to one military historian (a polity expert is needed to check its application here): Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
[1]: Collins B.J.(2007) The Hittites and Their World, (Society of Biblical literature archaeology and Biblical studies; no. 7), Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, pp. 107 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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"His was not that kind of strength and fecklessness of spirit, as I gather from my forebear, who saw him drive the thick columns of Lydian cavalry into confusion along the plain of Hermus, and he a spear-bearing mortal" Account by Minnermus
[1]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
[1]: Pedley, J.G. 1972. Ancient Literary Sources on Sardis. Achaeological Exploration of Sardis. Monograph 2. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p.20 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
At the site of Tepecik-Çiftlik, long (approximately 18-25 cm) bifacially retouched obsidian points were found
[1]
, which can be identified as a spear’s part, but its use in warfare is unknown. At the site of Çatalhöyük elaborate obsidian bifacially flaked projectile points (which could have been use as spear points) were found. According to Hodder these large projectile points may have been used as a weapon in herding (to protect domesticated animals from wild predators), as knives to cut up domesticated animals, and in social or ritual killing/processing of wild animals or human flesh..
[2]
[1]: Bιçakçι E., Çakan Y.G., Godon M. 2012. Tepecik-Çiftlik [in]: Bașgelen N., P. Kuniholm, M. Özdoǧan (eds.)"The Neolithic in Turkey: New Excavations and New Research", Istanbul. pg. 100. [2]: Hodder I., Meskell L. 2010. The Symbolism of Çatalhöyük in its Regional Context [in]: Hodder I. (ed.)"Religion in the emergence of civilisation: Çatalhöyük as a case study", Cambridge. pg.60. |
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|
‘Knives, daggers, swords, arrowheads, spearheads, armor scales, and helmets discovered in these fortresses were produced on a mass scale and speak to an impressive military apparatus, unprecedented for this region.
[1]
According to a military history (data requires check by polity expert): Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
[1]: Lori Khatchadourian, ‘The Iron Age in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 480 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
Known from Phrygian drawings.
[1]
‘Knives, daggers, swords, arrowheads, spearheads, armor scales, and helmets discovered in these fortresses were produced on a mass scale and speak to an impressive military apparatus, unprecedented for this region.
[2]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[3]
[1]: Roller, L., 1999, “Early Phrygian Drawings from Gordion and the Elements of Phrygian Artistic Style”, Anatolian Studies, Vol. 49, pg:145 [2]: Lori Khatchadourian, ‘The Iron Age in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 480 [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
‘Knives, daggers, swords, arrowheads, spearheads, armor scales, and helmets discovered in these fortresses were produced on a mass scale and speak to an impressive military apparatus, unprecedented for this region.
[1]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
[1]: Lori Khatchadourian, ‘The Iron Age in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 480 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
"The men of the Five Nations devised a number of weapons effective in aggressive warfare, which they fashioned with much skill. The making of spears, bows and arrows, and the tomahawk or war club occupied much of their time. Such weapons were constantly being broken, lost, or worn out and had to be replaced so that a steady industry was carried on."
[1]
[1]: Lyford 1945, 44 |
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|
"The men of the Five Nations devised a number of weapons effective in aggressive warfare, which they fashioned with much skill. The making of spears, bows and arrows, and the tomahawk or war club occupied much of their time. Such weapons were constantly being broken, lost, or worn out and had to be replaced so that a steady industry was carried on."
[1]
[1]: Lyford 1945, 44 |
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|
Spears are widely documented in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age.
[1]
[1]: (Jung 1991) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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|
Hazara infantry used against the Mughals in the mid-seventeenth century.
[1]
- what weapons did they use? The eighteenth century Durrani Empire used Uzbeks and other tribal groups who were still equipped with spears, battle axe and bow and arrow.
[2]
Was this an infantry spear and was it a thrown weapon? The Uzbek cavalry are typically referred to as archers but did they also use the lance, as some of the Safavid cavalry did?
[1]: (Roy 2014, 111-112) Kaushik Roy. 2014. Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships. Bloomsbury Academic. London. [2]: J. Hanway, An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea, 4 vols., London, 1753 p. 252-4 |
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|
From 700 BCE? in Steppe zone: "During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... 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]
Hsiung-Nu reference c200 BCE: "Among their weapons we find the compound bow, bronze and bone arrowheads (their arrows also contained beads that gave them a whistling effect), broadswords, short swords, lances, and maces."
[2]
Can the Steppe zone be used to code Sogdiana?
[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]: (Golden 1992, 60) Peter B Golden. 1992. An Introduction to the History of the Turkish Peoples. Otto Harrassowitz. Wiesbaden. http://www.academia.edu/28176263/An_Introduction_to_the_History_of_the_Turkish_Peoples |
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|
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
"The dearth of illustrative material for the greater part of six centuries is largely due to the wanton destruction caused by two savage invasions from the east and only such finds as the stucco figures from Kara-shar [Central Asian warrior, eighth to tenth century] tell us that in all this period there had been little change."
[1]
Lances were used by Sassanian cavalrymen.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. |
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-
|
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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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|
Widely used in previous periods. This source, for which we require expert confirmation, say the Kushites "fought with clubs, swords, pikes, and hatchets."
[1]
[1]: (http://www.afropedea.org/kush#TOC-Military) |
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|
’The above seven sub-prefectures and hsiens had a total of 56 t’un officers, 486 Miao officers, 200 t’un leaders, 1, 000 home guards, 7, 000 t’un males, 1, 800 old and young males, and 5, 000 Miao soldiers. There were 120 t’un and Miao camps, 731 stone houses, 151 t’un guard houses, 137 guard stations, 99 patrol posts, 11 gun emplacements, 38 gates, and 11 gate houses. The above stone houses, guard houses, guard stations, patrol posts, gun emplacements, gates, and gate houses totaled 1, 178. There were altogether 131 t’un and Miao granaries; the set rent was 79, 218 shih, 3 tou, 9 sheng. There were in all 16, 388 shotguns, 50 hand guns, 1, 643 swords, and 5, 002 spears, totaling 41, 136 weapons.’
[1]
[1]: Ling, Shun-sheng, Yifu Ruey, and Lien-en Tsao 1947. “Report On An Investigation Of The Miao Of Western Hunan”, 177 |
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|
"it seems plain that the Ghurid forces at Tara’in were in large measure made up of heavy cavalry ... immortalized on the early Muslim coinage of Bengal as the very symbol of Muslim domination."
[1]
"bar-gustuwan horsemen".
[2]
Ghaznavid and Ghurid armies: "scattered but substantial evidence ... cavalry wielded, in addition to bows and arrows, weapons such as battle-axes, maces, lances, spears, sabres, and long, curved swords (qalachurs), while whatever (non-Turkish) infantry there was carried bows, maces, short swords and spears".
[3]
[1]: (Jackson 2003, 17) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Jackson 2003, 17 n52) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [3]: (Wink 1997, 90) Andre Wink. 1997. Al-Hind the Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume II: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest 11th-13th Centuries. BRILL. Leiden. |
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|
At Gurgan (484 CE) "the Hephthalite king stuck the treaty that Peroz had signed, promising not to invade Hephthalite territory again, on the tip of his spear."
[1]
[1]: (Bauer 2010, 151) Bauer, S W. 2010. The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade. W. W. Norton & Company. |
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|
Weapons included the cataphractus lance. There also seem to have been shorter infantry spears, tridents and other more esoteric weapons.
[1]
Spears.
[2]
Saka warriors who destroyed the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai Khanoum in 145 BCE (and may have used similar military technology to the Kushan nomads) used bows, lances and long swords.
[3]
Yuezhi were mounted archers supported by heavy lancers.
[4]
[1]: The armies of Bactria 70 BC-450 AD p. 57 [2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 269) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO. [3]: (McLaughlin 2016, 76) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. [4]: (McLaughlin 2016, 77) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. |
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|
Over the same time period "the ji, a long-handled weapon with several blades that was used as much for hooking as for thrusting, yielded to spears and lances of simpler construction."
[1]
Over the same time period "the ji, a long-handled weapon with several blades that was used as much for hooking as for thrusting, yielded to spears and lances of simpler construction."
[1]
"Weapons were mainly lances and bows..."
[2]
[1]: (Graff 2002, 41) [2]: (Peers 1995, 20) |
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|
[1]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
[1]: Webber, C. (2003) Odrysian Cavalry, Army, Equipment and Tactics. Bar International Series 1139, pp. 529-554. p549 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
Roman cavalry were not traditionally horseback archers. Inferred that they carried lances.
|
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|
Spears were used by the Iroquois in close combat, and spear points have been found lodged in many human bones from this period.
[1]
[1]: (Engelbrecht 2003: 6) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/FJ3EAI76. |
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|
Ling et al claim the use of spears even in the Chinese period: ’The above seven sub-prefectures and hsiens had a total of 56 t’un officers, 486 Miao officers, 200 t’un leaders, 1,000 home guards, 7,000 t’un males, 1,800 old and young males, and 5,000 Miao soldiers. ... There were in all 16,388 shotguns, 50 hand guns, 1,643 swords, and 5,002 spears, totaling 41,136 weapons.’
[1]
[1]: Ling, Shun-sheng, Yifu Ruey, and Lien-en Tsao 1947. “Report On An Investigation Of The Miao Of Western Hunan”, 177 |
||||||
|
Spears.
[1]
Used the spear.
[2]
"The advancement of bronze technology and the use of bronze weapons gave the Shang military great advantage over their enemies and completely changed the way they fought wars. They used newly-developed weapons like the bronze-tipped halberd and spear, the compound bow; and most importantly, they used horse-drawn chariots."
[3]
[1]: (Dreyer, 2012, 20) [2]: (The Shang Dynasty, 1600 to 1050 BCE. Spice Digest, Fall 2007. http://iis-db.stanford.edu/docs/117/ShangDynasty.pdf) [3]: http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/the_shang_dynasty_1600_to_1050_bce/ |
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|
"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south."
[1]
Sui heavy cavalry equipped with "lances, swords and often full armour for both men and horses."
[2]
Lances. ; Sui heavy cavalry equipped with "lances, swords and often full armour for both men and horses."
[2]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17) [2]: (Peers 2002, 16) |
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|
"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south."
[1]
lance
[2]
"Dou Jiande was wounded with a lance thrust in the fighting at Hulao"
[3]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17) [2]: (Peers 2002, 16) [3]: (Graff 2002, 175) Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London |
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|
[1]
"The elite troops in the state of Wei had to ... strap a spear to their backs and a sword by their waists ... "
[2]
[1]: (Lewis 1999b, 621) [2]: (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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|
"A spear was also one of the combat weapons in the Western Zhou period, but it was not the principal one"
[1]
"The advancement of bronze technology and the use of bronze weapons gave the Shang military great advantage over their enemies and completely changed the way they fought wars. They used newly-developed weapons like the bronze-tipped halberd and spear, the compound bow; and most importantly, they used horse-drawn chariots."
[2]
[1]: (Hong 1992, 77) Hong, Yang. 1992. Weapons in Ancient China. Science Press. [2]: http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/the_shang_dynasty_1600_to_1050_bce/ |
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|
Later writers report the use of spears: ’Spears with iron points were generally in use when I visited the Indians. The point (see Figure 7) has a socket at the bottom. The shaft is fastened into the socket with the help of resin. The spear or lance has a length of 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 meters. They are said to obtain the iron points by way of barter from the Indians along the upper Senepa. The points are said to come from Ecuador. The spear with the iron point is called nánki by the Indians. Formerly spears were used shaped out of the wood of the chonta palm, and they still occur in isolated instances. The shape of their point is the same as the iron one, but its cross-section shows a somewhat concave outline. Shaft and point are made out of one piece. These chonta lances are called angös.’
[1]
It remains to be confirmed when the Shuar started to acquire iron and steel tools. We have assumed that spears of a different kind were in use during the Spanish colonial period, with a different kind of tip. "Salinas, writing in 1571 (second letter), says that the Indians in the vicinity of Santiago have copper axes, ( ) shields made of tapir skin and of wood, and spear throwers."
[2]
[1]: Brüning, Hans H. 1928. “Travelling In The Aguaruna Region”, 71 [2]: Stirling, Matthew Williams. 1938. “Historical And Ethnographical Material On The Jivaro Indians.”, 78-79 |
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|
Spears with iron points were generally in use when I visited the Indians. The point (see Figure 7) has a socket at the bottom. The shaft is fastened into the socket with the help of resin. The spear or lance has a length of 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 meters. They are said to obtain the iron points by way of barter from the Indians along the upper Senepa. The points are said to come from Ecuador. The spear with the iron point is called nánki by the Indians. Formerly spears were used shaped out of the wood of the chonta palm, and they still occur in isolated instances. The shape of their point is the same as the iron one, but its cross-section shows a somewhat concave outline. Shaft and point are made out of one piece. These chonta lances are called angös.
[1]
[1]: Brüning, Hans H. 1928. “Travelling In The Aguaruna Region”, 71 |
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|
"One of the most important sources for the study of Egyptian weapons in the early Middle Kingdom is a pair of painted wooden models (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) from the tomb of Mesehti, a provincial governor at Asyut in the Eleventh Dynasty (figure 22). Forty Egyptian spearmen and forty Nubian archers are reproduced in faithful detail, showing the typical costume and arms of the common soldier."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) 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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|
"One of the most important sources for the study of Egyptian weapons in the early Middle Kingdom is a pair of painted wooden models (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) from the tomb of Mesehti, a provincial governor at Asyut in the Eleventh Dynasty (figure 22). Forty Egyptian spearmen and forty Nubian archers are reproduced in faithful detail, showing the typical costume and arms of the common soldier."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
|
"One of the most important sources for the study of Egyptian weapons in the early Middle Kingdom is a pair of painted wooden models (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) from the tomb of Mesehti, a provincial governor at Asyut in the Eleventh Dynasty (figure 22). Forty Egyptian spearmen and forty Nubian archers are reproduced in faithful detail, showing the typical costume and arms of the common soldier."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) 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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|
Tools or weapons discovered that cannot yet be adequately placed in either category include: bows, spears, lances, axes, boomerangs, staffs, clubs, slings, knives, adzes etc
[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)."
[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. |
||||||
|
"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 northern exterior wall of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III (Medinet Habu) is decorated with episodes from the war against the Sea Peoples (c. 1164 BC), including a scene of the official allocation of various types of arms (spears, helmets, bows, quivers, khepesh daggers and shields) to the soldiers."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 43) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
|
"One of the most important sources for the study of Egyptian weapons in the early Middle Kingdom is a pair of painted wooden models (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) from the tomb of Mesehti, a provincial governor at Asyut in the Eleventh Dynasty (figure 22). Forty Egyptian spearmen and forty Nubian archers are reproduced in faithful detail, showing the typical costume and arms of the common soldier."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
|
"One of the most important sources for the study of Egyptian weapons in the early Middle Kingdom is a pair of painted wooden models (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) from the tomb of Mesehti, a provincial governor at Asyut in the Eleventh Dynasty (figure 22). Forty Egyptian spearmen and forty Nubian archers are reproduced in faithful detail, showing the typical costume and arms of the common soldier."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) 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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"One of the most important sources for the study of Egyptian weapons in the early Middle Kingdom is a pair of painted wooden models (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) from the tomb of Mesehti, a provincial governor at Asyut in the Eleventh Dynasty (figure 22). Forty Egyptian spearmen and forty Nubian archers are reproduced in faithful detail, showing the typical costume and arms of the common soldier."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 32) 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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According to one military historian (a polity specialist needed to confirm this data): many Greek Hoplites carried a stabbing spear as their primary weapon. The Saites employed Greek mercenaries. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[1]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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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]
Present for Abbasid Caliphate.
[1]: (Nicolle 1993) Nicolle, D. 1993. Armies of the Muslim Conquest. Osprey Publishing. |
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Gladwin relates an incident in which spears were used in combat. His material appear to refer to the colonial period: ’When the men got close, they saw there were a lot of people brandishing weapons, and they conferred. They decided they would just go on in, fend off the weapons as best they could, but not say anything until they were recognized, for they realized what had happened. The old man asked who would go first, and the young men said they would go first and the old man afterwards so he would not get hurt; he was to remain behind them. So they went in the door of the house. The chief said, “Spear them!” So they stabbed with their spears, but the young men warded them all off; they grabbed the spears and hurled them away. Then they slashed with the knives, but the two men got them too, tucked them under their arms and then plowed in. Then the chief told them to stop, to wait a minute, for these were remarkable people. He asked, “Who are you?” “We.” “Who?”, and they told him their names. Then they threw their arms around them and greeted them and were very happy. They asked them where they had come from, and they told them, and they were still happier. Then they got out food, and they and all their relatives sat down to eat. They feasted that night and on and on. For a whole week they did nothing but feast because they were so happy. That is all.’
[1]
[1]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 624 |
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At the end of the Middle Bronze Age and especially in the Late Bronze Age, Normandy saw an evolution in war practices, which could have been linked to population growth. Spear heads and swords appeared and multiplied. They do not seem to have been used for hunting, but most likely for single combat or pitched battles. "À partir de la fin du Bronze moyen et surtout au Bronze final se dessine en Normandie une évolution des pratiques guerrières, peut-être liée à un accroissement démographique. Les pointes de lance et les épées qui apparaissent et se multiplient ne semblent guère avoir été utilisées pour la chasse (cat. 12-16), mais très probablement pour des combats singuliers ou en batailles rangées."
[1]
Reference is not specific to Paris Basin cultures so more research is needed.
[1]: (Ghesquière in Macigny et al 2005, 23) |
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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]
Reference is not specific to Paris Basin cultures so more research is needed.
[1]: (McIntosh 2006, 298) |
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‘A Garo spear is a formidable weapon, for it is provided with an iron head, 1 ft. or 14 ins. long and 2 or 3 ins. broad. It is very sharp, and is fitted into a bamboo shaft about 5 ft. long. The heads are first cemented into their sockets with lac, and then very neatly bound to them with thin withes of cane, which further servo the purpose of preventing the shaft from splitting. With these spears two or three men will attack a bear, and even tigers are occasionally killed with them. In the big drives for game which the Garos sometimes organize, spears are invariably used, and numbers of pig are slaughtered with these weapons. The heads are of foreign make and are brought by Bengali traders to the markets at the foot of the hills. The spears are used only for thrusting, and not for casting.’
[1]
[1]: Playfair, Alan 1909. “Garos”, 32 |
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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. Infantry armor became heavier as cavalry armor was discarded. e.g. pikeman who faced lancers. Breastplates and steel leggings were available but most wore stiff leather coats.
[2]
Still some lancers?
[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. [2]: (Nolan 2006, 26) 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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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 particularly by fighters who did not own a sword."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2006, 298) |
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"The basic equipment of the Celtic warrior was spear and shield. To this could be added a sword, a helmet and a mailshirt."
[1]
"The Greek writer Strabo commented that the Celtic warrior carried two types of spear: a larger, heavier one for thrusting, and a smaller, lighter javelin that could be thrown and used at close quarters."
[2]
[1]: (Allen 2007, 115) [2]: (Allen 2007, 116) |
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[1]
"The basic equipment of the Celtic warrior was spear and shield. To this could be added a sword, a helmet and a mailshirt."
[2]
"The Greek writer Strabo commented that the Celtic warrior carried two types of spear: a larger, heavier one for thrusting, and a smaller, lighter javelin that could be thrown and used at close quarters."
[3]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 58) [2]: (Allen 2007, 115) [3]: (Allen 2007, 116) |
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[1]
"The basic equipment of the Celtic warrior was spear and shield. To this could be added a sword, a helmet and a mailshirt."
[2]
"The Greek writer Strabo commented that the Celtic warrior carried two types of spear: a larger, heavier one for thrusting, and a smaller, lighter javelin that could be thrown and used at close quarters."
[3]
[1]: (Kruta 2004, 58) [2]: (Allen 2007, 115) [3]: (Allen 2007, 116) |
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Lance/spear.
[1]
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE) reference: "On horseback, the principal weapon was a 10-foot-long wooden lance carried with a small wedge-shaped shield and sometimes a short, steel-handled battleaxe."
[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]: (Wagner 2006, 27-29) John A Wagner. 2006. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Weapons included the spear.
[1]
"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[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]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. |
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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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Spearheads -the best preserved examples are recovered at the Warrior Graves at Knossos- are narrow, leaf-shaped blade with a strongly marked midrib and a socketed base. This type of spear could be used by both infantry and by chariot warriors.
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"Preserved seals and stone vessels show daggers, spears and swordsmen. Images of double-headed axes and boar’s tusk helmets are also common in Cretian art, Molloy reported."EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: http://www.livescience.com/26275-peaceful-minoans-surprisingly-warlike.html
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According to the Chinese Nan chou i wu chih (A Record of Strange Things in the Southern Regions) written about 222-228 CE a volcanic country called ’Ge-ying’ (thought to be western Java) traded with the Malay Peninsula and imported horses from India. They were used by warriors.
[1]
Dewawarman I may have founded Salakanagara in west West Java 130 CE. He followed Aji Saka who may have introduced ’Buddhism, letters, calendar, etc.’) into Central and East Java 78 CE.
[2]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese include ’lance’: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[3]
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2017, 215) John Norman Miksic. Geok Yian Goh. Routledge. 2017. Ancient Southeast Asia. London. p. 215 [2]: (Iguchi 2015) Masatoshi Iguchi. 2015. Java Essay: The History and Culture of a Southern Country. Troubador Publishing Ltd. [3]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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Dewawarman I may have founded Salakanagara in west West Java 130 CE. He followed Aji Saka who may have introduced ’Buddhism, letters, calendar, etc.’) into Central and East Java 78 CE.
[1]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[2]
The ruling class were Hindu Indians and their contemporaries in the Indian Chalukyan Kingdom had "swords, shields, spears, clubs, lances, bows and arrows etc."
[3]
[1]: (Iguchi 2015) Masatoshi Iguchi. 2015. Java Essay: The History and Culture of a Southern Country. Troubador Publishing Ltd. [2]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. [3]: (Sreenivasa Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1975, 93) H V Sreenivasa Murthy and R Ramakrishnan. 1975. A History of Karnataka. Vivek Prakashan. |
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French mercenaries were often employed who would bring their own weapons. These included the battle axe, sword, dagger, spear or lance. Mace, club and flail would begin their rise to prominence at the end of this period.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Boulton in Kilber, W W. 1995. Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Psychology Press. [2]: Nicolle, D and McBride, A. 1991. French Medieval Armies 1000-1300. Osprey Publishing Ltd. London. |
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Coded present based on this reference.
[1]
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."
[2]
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.’
[3]
Temple reliefs from earlier periods contain murals showing clubs, swords, bows and arrows, spears, shields, armour, knives, halberds.
[4]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[5]
[1]: (Sedwayati in Ooi 2004 (b), 707) [2]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [3]: (Rao 2005, 213) B V Rao. 2005. History of Asia. Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. New Dawn Press, Inc. Elgin. [4]: (Draeger 1972, 23, 27) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. [5]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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Borobudur and Prambanan temples contain murals showing the weaponry of early times - swords, bows and arrows, spears, shields, armour, clubs, knives, halberds. The Plaosan temple group 3 miles from Prambanan depicts stone carved gate guards armed with clubs and swords.
[1]
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."
[2]
[1]: (Draeger 1972, 23, 27) [2]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. |
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"The depiction of the troops of Lagaš [in Mesopotamia] armed with spears in what appear to have been a close phalanx-type formation demonstrates the use of the spear in open battle during this period (see Yadin 1963:134f.). Whether such battle tactics were common among EB or MB armies in the Levant is not certain, the spear does, nevertheless, appear in the archaeological assemblage of the Levant in both periods."
[1]
At an archaeological dig near Motza, near Jerusalem: "In addition to signs of life, the archaeologists uncovered several graves. According to Davis, in the midst of a layer dating to 10,000 years ago, archaeologists found a tomb from 4,000 years ago. “In this tomb are two individuals - warriors - who were buried together with a dagger and a spear head,” she said.
[2]
[1]: Burke (2004:83). [2]: Amanda Borschel-Dan. 16th July 2019. A ‘game changer’: Vast, developed 9,000-year-old settlement found near Jerusalem. Times of Israel. Site accessed: 20th August 2019. https://www.timesofisrael.com/vast-and-developed-9000-year-old-settlement-uncovered-near-jerusalem |
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Lance represented on Indo-Scythian coins.
[1]
Military equipment depicted on the Bhilsa Topes statues include spear with triangular head.
[1]
The Bhilsa topes are Buddhist monuments from central India thought to date to c100 BCE. Greek historian Arrian c2nd century CE said that the Indian horsemen carried two lances.
[2]
[1]: (Egerton 2002, 12) Wilbraham Egerton. 2002 (1880). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. [2]: (Egerton 2002, 13) Wilbraham Egerton. 2002 (1880). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. |
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"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[1]
[1]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. |
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Cavalrymen with spears.
[1]
According to Ibn Battuta in 1333 Delhi forces employed heavy-armoured cavalry.
[2]
[1]: (Ahmed 2011, 99) Ahmed, Farooqui Salma. 2011. A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Pearson Education India. [2]: (Jackson 2003, 17) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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‘A Garo spear is a formidable weapon, for it is provided with an iron head, 1 ft. or 14 ins. long and 2 or 3 ins. broad. It is very sharp, and is fitted into a bamboo shaft about 5 ft. long. The heads are first cemented into their sockets with lac, and then very neatly bound to them with thin withes of cane, which further servo the purpose of preventing the shaft from splitting. With these spears two or three men will attack a bear, and even tigers are occasionally killed with them. In the big drives for game which the Garos sometimes organize, spears are invariably used, and numbers of pig are slaughtered with these weapons. The heads are of foreign make and are brought by Bengali traders to the markets at the foot of the hills. The spears are used only for thrusting, and not for casting.’
[1]
[1]: Playfair, Alan 1909. “Garos”, 32 |
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Early 13th century Brabancon mercenaries from modern Brabant, Belgium fought with pikes or long spears.
[1]
General reference for this time period in Europe: mounted cavalry used lance and sword.
[2]
The Papal State often used French mercenaries.
[1]: (Nicolle 1991, 10) [2]: (Rogers 2007, 32) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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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 a ’long spear’.
[2]
Also, the foot soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - used spears, swords, and shields.
[3]
The Harsha and Pala empires are a post-Gupta era polities so if they used the spear and there was no major shift in weaponry until the Islamic invasion then the spear was probably still in use at this time. Under chapter 9 "The Rajput Administration": "Cavaliers were mostly spearmen."
[4]
"Further details about military dress and equipment can be had from the Kathakosaprakarana, Yasastilaka champu and the Tilakamanjari."
[4]
[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. [3]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego. [4]: (Bakshi, Gajrani and Singh eds 2005, 394) S R Bakshi. S Gajrani. Hari Singh. eds. 2005. Early Aryans to Swaraj. Volume 3: Indian Education and Rajputs. Sarup & Sons. New Delhi. |
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"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads."
[1]
The Kushans had used spears.
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 269) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO. |
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Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had a ’long spear’.
[1]
The foot soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - used spears, swords, and shields.
[2]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. [2]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego. |
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"The Hoysala Army could be taken as a microcosm of the force structure of the Hindu polities in Deccan and South India. The infantry carried bamboo bows, swords, spears and shields."
[1]
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."
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2015, 98) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (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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"There was no significant change in the weaponry of the Indian army from ancient to classical times; in fact, according to Kosambi, there was a decline in the standard of arms. Indian soldiers were mostly very poorly equipped, noted Marco Polo."
[1]
Present during the preceding Hoysala period: "The Hoysala Army could be taken as a microcosm of the force structure of the Hindu polities in Deccan and South India. The infantry carried bamboo bows, swords, spears and shields."
[2]
[1]: (Eraly 2011, 169) Abraham Eraly. 2011. The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. [2]: (Roy 2015, 98) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had a ’long spear’.
[1]
The foot soldiers of the Pala Empire after 750 CE - the core of which was located in the southern reaches of the Ganges Basin to the east of this polity and at its height possessed territory all the way to Afghanistan - used spears, swords, and shields.
[2]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. [2]: (Lomazoff and Ralby 2013) Amanda Lomazoff. Aaron Ralby. 2013. The Atlas of Military History. Simon and Schuster. San Diego. |
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"Iron objects of various types - vessels, javelin heads, sword blades, arrowheads, spearheads, a horsehoe, and fishhook - have been found in cairn burial sites in Baluchistan... It is, however, difficult to data these burials. Some scholars data them between c.1100 and 500 BCE, but they may actually be much later".
[1]
The presence of spears has therefore been coded here, in the absence of evidence that the burials are from a different time period.
[1]: Singh, U. (2008) A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Dorling Kindersley: Delhi. p245 |
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Lances.
[1]
Spears used as close-combat weapons are found depicted in art from the period. There were also thrown-spears.
[1]: (Bradford and Bradford 2001, 128) Bradford, Alfred S. Bradford, Pamela, M. 2001. With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World. Greenwood Publishing Group. |
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Inferred from use in Mauryan Empire. The Sunga Dynasty was in effect the continuation of the Mauryan Empire as it was established in a coup by the Mauryan general Pushyamitra Sunga (Roy 2015, 19).
[1]
According to one military historian (this data needs to be confirmed by a polity specialist) the Mauryan army used the iron-tipped spear. Elephant riders carried a very long lance called the tomara.
[2]
According to one military historian (this data needs to be confirmed by a polity specialist) the Mauryan infantry used the lance, javelin and bow.
[3]
[1]: (Roy 2015: 19) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/35K9MMUW. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 212, 219) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies Of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies Of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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[1]
Hand-held spears.
[2]
Opinion of a military historian (a specialist opinion on this is needed to confirm it applies to this polity): "Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[3]
"Ranged weapons were featured more prominently, with Akkadian soldiers typically depicted carrying bows, broad-bladed battle axes,7 and spears (Westenholz 1999: 65–6)."
[4]
[1]: Hamblin 2006, 88 [2]: (Foster 2016, 166) Foster, Benjamin R. 2016. The Age of Agade. Inventing Empire In Ancient Mesopotamia. Routledge. London. [3]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. [4]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 15) |
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Roman cavalry were not traditionally horseback archers. Inferred that they carried lances.
|
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"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"The Standard of Ur’ and ’The Stele of Vultures’ (see p. 75) depict foot soldiers armed with spears or pole-mounted axes, their heads protected by leather or felt helmets."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 187) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"It was not until iron came into widespread use in the early first millennium that swords in particular and iron weapons in general began to replace the more expensive bronze spears, arrowheads, axes, and daggers of earlier times."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
[1]
[2]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[3]
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[4]
[1]: Postgate 2007, 242 [2]: Lafont 2009, 15 [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [4]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[1]
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) Persian heavy cavalry carried two short javelin (for stabbing and throwing) and long wooden or metal lance or spear.
[2]
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) Persian light infantry carried the bow and sling, and Cyrus also made them carry spear and sword.
[3]
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) heavy infantry carried long spear, short sword and battle axe.
[4]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 162) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-163) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [4]: (Gabriel 2002, 163) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
Early 13th century Brabancon mercenaries from modern Brabant, Belgium fought with pikes or long spears.
[1]
General reference for this time period in Europe: mounted cavalry used lance and sword.
[2]
The Papal State often used French mercenaries.
[1]: (Nicolle 1991, 10) [2]: (Rogers 2007, 32) Clifford J Rogers. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Middle Ages. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Copper spearheads have been found in the region.
[1]
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
"Metal weapons become more prevalent in the assemblage beginning in the EDIII period, with the appearance of daggers, battle axes, and a variety of spearheads"
[3]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 88) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 16) |
||||||
|
‘Major categories are pear-shaped stone maceheads, copper/bronze spiked and star maces, shortswords, knives/daggers with upturned ends, iron socketed spears, and arrowheads’.
[1]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[3]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 359 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Depictions of Ilkanid/Mongol soldiers with spears
[1]
Cavalry had lances.
[2]
[1]: David Nicolle, 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.243 [2]: Martin, H. Desmond. “The Mongol Army.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 1 (April 1, 1943): 52. |
||||||
|
Late bronze, early iron age: ‘copper/bronze socketed spear’.
[1]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[3]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 340 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[1]
"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]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[1]
"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]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
‘Major categories are pear-shaped stone maceheads, copper/bronze spiked and star maces, shortswords, knives/daggers with upturned ends, iron socketed spears, and arrowheads’
[1]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[3]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 359 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[1]
A Neo-Elamite cylinder seal depicts a figure with a spear, however, there is some debate over the origins of the man. He wears clothes similar to those which Herodotus describes as Median.
[2]
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[3]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: Carter, E. et al. 1992. The Neo-Elamite Period. In Harper, P. O., Aruz, J. and Tallon, F. (eds.) The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. p.214 [3]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[1]
"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]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
‘Spears (yari) have a long history in Japan, as the two earliest extant Japanese histories, the Kojiki (712 C.E.) and the Nihon shoki (720 C.E.) recount that the Japanese islands emerged from drops created when the gods Izanami and Izanagi used a jeweled spear to stir the cosmic brine mixture that constituted the universe.
[1]
‘The yari is also sometimes called a lance to underscore that in Japan spears were not thrown as in other military traditions where these arms served as projectile weapons.’
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.162. [2]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.163. |
||||||
|
"Monument D at Tang-i Sarvak shows a mounted soldier in scale armour on a horse protected by similar armour and armed with a long lance and bow."
[1]
Parthian cataphracts had a long, heavy lance.
[2]
12-foot lance known as the kontos.
[3]
[1]: (Raschke 1976, 821) Raschke, Manfred G. in Haase, Wolfgang ed. 1976. Politische Geschichte (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Walter de Gruyter. [2]: (Debevoise 1938, 86) Debevoise, Neilson C. 1938. A Political History of Parthia. University of Chicago Press Chicago. https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/political_history_parthia.pdf [3]: (Penrose 2008, 224) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. |
||||||
|
"Monument D at Tang-i Sarvak shows a mounted soldier in scale armour on a horse protected by similar armour and armed with a long lance and bow."
[1]
Parthian cataphracts had a long, heavy lance.
[2]
12-foot lance known as the kontos.
[3]
[1]: (Raschke 1976, 821) Raschke, Manfred G. in Haase, Wolfgang ed. 1976. Politische Geschichte (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Walter de Gruyter. [2]: (Debevoise 1938, 86) Debevoise, Neilson C. 1938. A Political History of Parthia. University of Chicago Press Chicago. https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/political_history_parthia.pdf [3]: (Penrose 2008, 224) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. |
||||||
|
"The main weapon of the "cataphracts," as the cavalrymen were called, was the bow, which eventually gave way to the lance."
[1]
Heavy lances.
[2]
Lance.
[1]
[1]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. [2]: (Ward 2014, 32) Ward, S R. 2014. Immortal, Updated Edition: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces. Georgetown University Press. |
||||||
|
"The main weapon of the "cataphracts," as the cavalrymen were called, was the bow, which eventually gave way to the lance."
[1]
Lance.
[1]
Heavy lances.
[2]
[1]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. [2]: (Ward 2014, 32) Ward, S R. 2014. Immortal, Updated Edition: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces. Georgetown University Press. |
||||||
|
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[1]
"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]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Present.
[1]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[3]
[1]: Potts 1999, 177 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Present: ‘copper/bronze socketed spear’.
[1]
Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE.
[2]
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon."
[3]
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 340 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Copper spearheads have been found in the region.
[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, 88) 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. |
||||||
|
According to Peroni, the Middle Bronze Age saw the introduction of swords and spearheads.
[1]
Presence of bronze spearhead in elite male tomb in Osteria dell’Osa.
[2]
[1]: (Bruno 2012: 36) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/THBS3YDV. [2]: (Alessandri 2013: 93) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/CCKG573P. |
||||||
|
Early Roman equipment was Hellenistic and "would not have been out of place in a Hoplite phalanx." The warrior had two spears of different sized heads.
[1]
"Hastati and principes also 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."
[2]
"Hoplite panoplies have been discovered in the so-called Tomb of the Warrior at Vulci, dating to c. 530 B.C., as well as in a tomb at Lanuvium in Latium dating to the early fifth century" (citing Torelli 1989 and Drummond).
[3]
[1]: (Fields 2007, 5-6) [2]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 15) [3]: (Forsythe 2006, 114) Forsythe, Gary. 2006. A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War. University of California Press. |
||||||
|
Spears
[1]
Hoplite was equipment used from about 600 BCE.
[2]
"Hoplite panoplies have been discovered in the so-called Tomb of the Warrior at Vulci, dating to c. 530 B.C., as well as in a tomb at Lanuvium in Latium dating to the early fifth century" (citing Torelli 1989 and Drummond).
[3]
[1]: (Cornell 1995, 179) [2]: (Cornell 1995, 189) [3]: (Forsythe 2006, 114) Forsythe, Gary. 2006. A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War. University of California Press. |
||||||
|
General reference for medieval warfare: During the Late Middle Ages (c1000-1500 CE) reknowned production centres of military equipment in Italy included: "Aquileia (helmets), Benevento (spear-heads), Brescia and Milan (swords), Otranto (helmets), Pavia (helmets, spears, swords), and Sardinia (helmets, shields, coats of mail)".
[1]
General reference for medieval warfare: lances.
[2]
Illustration shows "Dalmatian urban militiaman, mid-13th C." with a spear and shield.
[3]
Illustration shows "Venetian infantryman, late 14th C." with a spear, sword, helmet, shield, guantlets, and plate armour for lower legs.
[4]
Illustration shows "Venetian man-at-arms, late 15th C." in full plate armour holding a spear and carrying a sword.
[5]
Illustration shows a cavalryman "Stradiot c.1500" with a spear, bow and curved sword.
[5]
[1]: (Gaier 2010, 75) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Gaier 2010, 76) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate A) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [4]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate C) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [5]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate E) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
||||||
|
General reference for medieval warfare: During the Late Middle Ages (c1000-1500 CE) reknowned production centres of military equipment in Italy included: "Aquileia (helmets), Benevento (spear-heads), Brescia and Milan (swords), Otranto (helmets), Pavia (helmets, spears, swords), and Sardinia (helmets, shields, coats of mail)".
[1]
General reference for medieval warfare: lances.
[2]
Illustration shows "Venetian infantryman, late 14th C." with a spear, sword, helmet, shield, guantlets, and plate armour for lower legs.
[3]
Illustration shows "Venetian man-at-arms, late 15th C." in full plate armour holding a spear and carrying a sword.
[4]
Illustration shows a cavalryman "Stradiot c.1500" with a spear, bow and curved sword.
[4]
[1]: (Gaier 2010, 75) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [2]: (Gaier 2010, 76) Claude Gaier. Arms Industry and Trade. Clifford J. Rogers. ed. 2010. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate C) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. [4]: (Nicolle 1989, Plate E) David Nicolle. 1989. The Venetian Empire 1200-1670. Osprey Publishing. Oxford. |
||||||
|
‘The yari [spear] was one of the most important weapons in the samurai arsenal, especially in infantry units during the Warring States period (1467-1568).’
[1]
‘Spears (yari) have a long history in Japan, as the two earliest extant Japanese histories, the Kojiki (712 C.E.) and the Nihon shoki (720 C.E.) recount that the Japanese islands emerged from drops created when the gods Izanami and Izanagi used a jeweled spear to stir the cosmic brine mixture that constituted the universe.
[1]
‘The yari is also sometimes called a lance to underscore that in Japan spears were not thrown as in other military traditions where these arms served as projectile weapons.’
[2]
"the yari that became prominent in the late fifteenth century with the rise of infantry, was designed to be used by groups of men standing in formation."
[3]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.162. [2]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.163. [3]: (Lorge 2011, 49) |
||||||
|
‘The yari [spear] was one of the most important weapons in the samurai arsenal, especially in infantry units during the Warring States period (1467-1568).’
[1]
‘Spears (yari) have a long history in Japan, as the two earliest extant Japanese histories, the Kojiki (712 C.E.) and the Nihon shoki (720 C.E.) recount that the Japanese islands emerged from drops created when the gods Izanami and Izanagi used a jeweled spear to stir the cosmic brine mixture that constituted the universe.
[1]
‘The yari is also sometimes called a lance to underscore that in Japan spears were not thrown as in other military traditions where these arms served as projectile weapons.’
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.162. [2]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.163. |
||||||
|
‘Spears (yari) have a long history in Japan, as the two earliest extant Japanese histories, the Kojiki (712 C.E.) and the Nihon shoki (720 C.E.) recount that the Japanese islands emerged from drops created when the gods Izanami and Izanagi used a jeweled spear to stir the cosmic brine mixture that constituted the universe.
[1]
‘The yari is also sometimes called a lance to underscore that in Japan spears were not thrown as in other military traditions where these arms served as projectile weapons.’
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.162. [2]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.163. |
||||||
|
"The establishment of Chinese provinces in the northern Korean Peninsula conveyed knowledge of bronze and iron closer to the Japanese islands, and with Yayoi bronze spears, halberds, swords, mirrors, and bells appeared. In each case, the imported items were transformed by local bronze casters into forms more suited to local tastes and requirements. Thus the weapons were enlarged and broadened."
[1]
’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.’
[2]
[1]: Charles F W Higham. 2004. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Facts On File, Inc. New York. p.404 [2]: 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 |
||||||
|
‘Spears (yari) have a long history in Japan, as the two earliest extant Japanese histories, the Kojiki (712 C.E.) and the Nihon shoki (720 C.E.) recount that the Japanese islands emerged from drops created when the gods Izanami and Izanagi used a jeweled spear to stir the cosmic brine mixture that constituted the universe.
[1]
‘The yari is also sometimes called a lance to underscore that in Japan spears were not thrown as in other military traditions where these arms served as projectile weapons.’
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.162. [2]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.163. |
||||||
|
‘The yari [spear] was one of the most important weapons in the samurai arsenal, especially in infantry units during the Warring States period (1467-1568) and thereafter when the yari served as a means of tactical advancement to a higher position.’
[1]
‘Spears (yari) have a long history in Japan, as the two earliest extant Japanese histories, the Kojiki (712 C.E.) and the Nihon shoki (720 C.E.) recount that the Japanese islands emerged from drops created when the gods Izanami and Izanagi used a jeweled spear to stir the cosmic brine mixture that constituted the universe.
[1]
‘The yari is also sometimes called a lance to underscore that in Japan spears were not thrown as in other military traditions where these arms served as projectile weapons.’
[2]
‘In the long peace of the Edo period (1600-1868), the yari earned a place as an emblem of samurai status and became standard ceremonial equipment borne by retainers of high-ranking warriors.’
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.162. [2]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.163. |
||||||
|
"The establishment of Chinese provinces in the northern Korean Peninsula conveyed knowledge of bronze and iron closer to the Japanese islands, and with Yayoi bronze spears, halberds, swords, mirrors, and bells appeared. In each case, the imported items were transformed by local bronze casters into forms more suited to local tastes and requirements. Thus the weapons were enlarged and broadened."
[1]
’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.’
[2]
[1]: Charles F W Higham. 2004. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Facts On File, Inc. New York. p.404 [2]: 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 |
||||||
|
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[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]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Nicolle 2001, 51) Nicolle, David. 2001. The Crusades. Osprey Publishing. |
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According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
’The Khmer and Cham navies are locked in hand-to-hand combat. One of the Chams has been grabbed round the throat and is about to be speared. Banteay Chhmar.’
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49) [2]: (Higham 2014b, p. 385) |
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According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49) |
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According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49) |
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According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
’With the later Iron Age, these have been identified through the banks that ringed the sites to retain and control the flow of water. Smiths fashioned heavy iron ploughshares and sickles. At Lovea in Cambodia, rice field boundaries radiated out from the moats. The division and improvement of land and increased production occurred as elites at Noen U-Loke were being interred in graves filled with rice, along with outstanding sets of exotic ornaments. Smiths also forged iron arrowheads and heavy spears. Some settlements grew to be much larger than others. Valued cattle and water buffalo were protected in corrals within the moats, and substantial houses were constructed in the residential quarters of the moated towns. It is suggested that this was a period of formative social change involving the emergence of powerful leaders rooted in hereditary inequality.’
[2]
’We find evidence of friction in the form of iron weaponry, for marked agricultural intensification, the large-scale production of salt, and provision of banks to retain and control water.’
[3]
[1]: (Coe 2003, 49) [2]: (Higham 2014, p 833-834) [3]: (Higham 2014b, 287) |
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According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
The following applies to the NGA region (Tonle Sap area): "A range of weapons were identified in many graves, including long iron swords and projectile points. The majority of individuals buried with weapons were male. The swords found in these graves were over 1m in length and nearly 100mm wide near the hilt, similar in form to the late medieval claymore swords of Scotland. Smaller short swords were also encountered in some burials. Caches of projectile points found in burials appear to be of two types: long, narrow points and broad, leaf-shaped points.
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49) [2]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452) |
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According to Coe (2003), iron was used in weaponry, including knives, spears and arrowheads since Iron Age chiefdoms (c. 500 BC to c. 200-500 CE). ’Iron was used not only for axes (for land clearance) and digging implements, but also for weaponry, principally knives, spears and arrowheads; in fact, weapons are often found in burials’
[1]
"A range of weapons were identified in many graves, including long iron swords and projectile points. The majority of individuals buried with weapons were male. The swords found in these graves were over 1m in length and nearly 100mm wide near the hilt, similar in form to the late medieval claymore swords of Scotland. Smaller short swords were also encountered in some burials. Caches of projectile points found in burials appear to be of two types: long, narrow points and broad, leaf-shaped points.
[2]
[1]: (Coe 2003, p. 49) [2]: (Domett et al. 2011, p. 452) |
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Higham (2002) records that sites in the Lower Mekong Valley (south Vietnam) dating from approx 1900 BC - 1110 BC, archaeologists have found items including parts of a crossbow, a spear, and later on arrowheads, spearheads, harpoons.
[1]
Additionally many have been found in other parts of SEA according to Miksic and Goh (2016):"Mortuary items at Noen U-Loke reflected the high status of leading individuals in their communities, who were interred in rice-filled graves, wore gold and silver jewelry with fine bronzes, glass and stone beads, iron spears, knives, and even a spade."
[2]
[1]: (Higham 2002: 155) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6KJ58462. [2]: (Miksic and Goh 2016: 106) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2EZ3CBBS. |
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"The excavation of Phum Snay also yielded evidence of military paraphernalia (swords, daggers, spearheads, projectile points, epaulettes) in the prehistoric graves" dating c. 500 BC - 200 AD.
[1]
[1]: (Domett et al. 2011: 452) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RJH39GGM. |
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"the warrior’s weapon includes a sword (Yašt 5.130; 10.131; 14.27), a spear (Yašt 10.39,102; 15.48; 17.12), bow and arrows (Yašt 7.28; 10.39) and a mace, which sometimes has a bull handle, sometimes it has 100 edges (Yašt 6.5, 10.96, 101, 132; 11,10), and sometimes it is made of gold (Yašt 10.96, 131). The body was covered by protective armor, the main part of which was a helmet made of a bull skin or metal (Yašt 13.45; 15.57) and a shield."
[1]
Andronovo had spearheads.
[2]
Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors typically required the spear.
[3]
Vedic sources connect charioteering with spear.
[4]
Was this spear only one thrown from the chariot or was it also used as a handheld weapon?
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007: 137) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UW7JEMDK/q/Kuz’mina. [2]: (Mallory 1997, 21) J P Mallory. Andronovo culture. J P Mallory. D Q Adams. eds. 1997. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Chicago. [3]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. [4]: (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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"Le antiche figurazioni e i reperti archaeologici suggeriscono inoltre la presenza di soldati di fanteria dotati di lance, pugnali, asce e mazze, ma scarsamente protetti da armi difensive, quali elmi, corazze e scudi, che compaiono raramente nei repertori figurati; risulta, infine, la presenza di corpi di arcieri."
[1]
TRANSLATION: "Ancient iconography and archaeological findings suggest that the infantry was armed with spears, daggers, axes, and clubs, but was only rarely clad in defensive gear such as helmets, armour and shields; finally, armies also included archers’ corps."
[1]: Bartoloni, P. 1988. L’esercito, la marina e la guerra. In Moscati, S. (ed) I Fenici pp. 132-138. Milano: Bompiani. |
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Spears are widely documented in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age.
[1]
[1]: (Jung 1991) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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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]
"the lance was an integral and in some cases the major part of the weaponry of West African cavalry."
[2]
Carried by military leaders.
[3]
Carried by military leaders
[3]
[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, 68) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. [3]: S.A. Djata, The Bamana kingdom by the Niger (1997), p. 17 |
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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]
"the lance was an integral and in some cases the major part of the weaponry of West African cavalry."
[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, 68) 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 spears. Presumably Mongol cavalry could use the spear or lance as a weapon.
[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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"In the description of Hsiung-nu armament and tactics, Ssu-ma Ch’ien does not indulge in long-winded comparisons with the Chinese. His narrative is remarkably objective, and “moral” considerations are kept to a minimum. He describes their weapons (“they use bows and arrows as their long-range weapons, and swords and spears as their short-range weapons”)64 and their habits when it comes to going to war."
[1]
[1]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 277) |
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"In the description of Hsiung-nu armament and tactics, Ssu-ma Ch’ien does not indulge in long-winded comparisons with the Chinese. His narrative is remarkably objective, and “moral” considerations are kept to a minimum. He describes their weapons (“they use bows and arrows as their long-range weapons, and swords and spears as their short-range weapons”)64 and their habits when it comes to going to war."
[1]
[1]: (Di Cosmo 2002, 277) |
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"In Mesoamerica [...] tools that could double as weapons, including handheld spears and spearthrowers (atlatls) [...] have been found as early as 4000 BC".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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"The main Aztec shock weapons were thrusting spears".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 138) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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"Part of Teotihuacan’s weaponry was inherited from earlier times, especially the thrusting spear. Spears remained dominant on the battlefield but were augmented by atlatls and darts, which became major weapons in the Early and Middle Classic."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 47) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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technology present in the wider region from c.4000 BCE, and there is evidence for their use in Formative Mesoamerican art.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.13. [2]: 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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"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]
obsidian and stone spearpoints have been found archaeologically, and there is evidence for their militaristic use in both Formative Mesoamerican and Classic Teotihuacano 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, 30-1, 47-8. [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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technology present in the wider region from c.4000 BCE, and there is evidence for their use in Formative Mesoamerican art.
[1]
[2]
[1]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.13. [2]: 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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Andronovo had the spearhead.
[1]
Not known if it that was only a thrown spear (e.g. from chariot) or also handheld. No data for this period.
[1]: (Mallory 1997, 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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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."
[1]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Each man was equipped with three spears.
[1]
-- are these thrown spears? this variable is for handheld spears, such as a lance.
[1]: 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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Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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thrown-spears are known. were handheld-spears such as a lance used?
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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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Bronze spearheads found at the tomb of Lijiazui Mi, Panlongcheng.
[1]
The "spear appears to have remained relatively uncommon prior to the late Shang."
[2]
At Panlongcheng mao spear points.
[3]
are these thrown spears or hand-held thrusting spears?
[1]: (Bagley 1999, 169) [2]: (Peers 2011, 428) [3]: (Thorp 2013, 106) Thorp, Robert L. 2013. China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization.University of Pennsylvania Press. |
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The "spear appears to have remained relatively uncommon prior to the late Shang."
[1]
At Panlongcheng mao spear points.
[2]
Unknown if these were used for warfare.
[1]: Sawyer, R. 2011. Ancient Chinese Warfare. Basic Books. [2]: (Thorp 2013, 106) Thorp, Robert L. 2013. China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization.University of Pennsylvania Press. |
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were there handheld spears in addition to thrown?
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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.";(Sawyer 2011: 428) Seshat URL: EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RTEZZDY8 .; More research needed.
[1]: (Peregrine 2001: 283) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QUL2KD3Z. |
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