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Lot 239

Antiquities
1 May 2013, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

£6,000 - £8,000

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A large European bronze spearhead
Late Bronze Age, circa 10th-9th Century B.C.
The unusually long leaf-shaped blade with gently curving edges and pronounced central ridge, the socket pierced on both sides for securing the blade to the wooden pole, 20¾in (52.8cm) long, mounted

Footnotes

Provenance:
English private collection, acquired in London in 2005.
Axel Guttmann Collection, Berlin, Germany. Collection number AG 1040.

Published:
H. Born and S. Hansen, Helme und Waffen Alteuropas, Mainz, 2001, p.140, pl.XXIV.

Literature:
Very few examples of unusually long spearheads have been found in Central Europe. They have been associated with a new fighting technique that involved fencing with a spear instead of throwing. However, it has also been suggested that they were used as votive offerings due to their value as display objects. For a smaller example from the Carpathian Basin region, cf. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no. 2000.129.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

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