Tanged Spearhead Identification

Pitt1999 · 25th September 2023, 03:54 AM

Tonight I purchased this spearhead from fellow forum member RSword. It was described as possibly being of European origin in the description. It appears to be quite old and was described as potentially being 1000 to 2000 years old. The only comparable object, in terms of age, in my collection is my 17th century (probably) Italian dagger. So it could be that old at least. I do have two other items that are much older (a piece of petrified wood from Arizona and a small meteorite I found when I was a kid) but they are neither arms nor armor so I will keep them out of this discussion. Being a tanged spearhead could set the date of origin for this piece quite far back. My knowledge of ancient European spearheads is close to nonexistent, but I do know that tanged spearheads in Europe went out of vogue at some point during the Bronze age. I thought about points of origin outside of Europe but this head doesn't appear to be from any sources I could think of. Bronze age spearheads from Luristan were tanged and obviously bronze, but my head is iron/steel (RSword magnet tested it). There are iron weapons from Luristan but they are all far more corroded compared to my head. The total length is 17 inches and it is 2 inches wide at the shoulders above the tang.

fernando · 25th September 2023, 03:44 PM

Dear Pitt1999, i hope members within this subject pop in with their opinions. I confess my ignorance, and would like to be enlightened over tanged spearheads having to be so incredibly old

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Interested Party · 25th September 2023, 04:31 PM

Just to throw the idea out there. A North American trade spear head?

Edit: I just re read the post and saw it came from Rick. So, I am sure it is as he states to the best of his knowledge. That said I am guessing this is an archeological find then? Is the location still known?

As Fernando implies above does it being a tanged spear head limit it to needing to be from 1000 AD or prior? I know N.A. trade blades were made with a tang. I would imagine European manufactures were making trade blades for many customers at the time of colonization.

Pitt1999 · 26th September 2023, 12:06 AM

I believe that the approximate age he gave this head was due to the piece's corrosion and pitting rather than it's tanged construction. I had the thought that this piece, being of tanged construction, meant that it was potentially ancient because of my sparse knowledge of spearhead construction. Rick and I conversed about this piece through email and he told me that this head doesn't have any provenance attached to it and it's deep pitting and corrosion led him to believe that it was dug up at some point in it's life.

25th September 2023, 03:54 AM	#1
Pitt1999 Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 105	Tanged Spearhead Identification Tonight I purchased this spearhead from fellow forum member RSword. It was described as possibly being of European origin in the description. It appears to be quite old and was described as potentially being 1000 to 2000 years old. The only comparable object, in terms of age, in my collection is my 17th century (probably) Italian dagger. So it could be that old at least. I do have two other items that are much older (a piece of petrified wood from Arizona and a small meteorite I found when I was a kid) but they are neither arms nor armor so I will keep them out of this discussion. Being a tanged spearhead could set the date of origin for this piece quite far back. My knowledge of ancient European spearheads is close to nonexistent, but I do know that tanged spearheads in Europe went out of vogue at some point during the Bronze age. I thought about points of origin outside of Europe but this head doesn't appear to be from any sources I could think of. Bronze age spearheads from Luristan were tanged and obviously bronze, but my head is iron/steel (RSword magnet tested it). There are iron weapons from Luristan but they are all far more corroded compared to my head. The total length is 17 inches and it is 2 inches wide at the shoulders above the tang. Attached Images Last edited by Pitt1999; 25th September 2023 at 03:56 AM. Reason: Capitalization error

25th September 2023, 03:44 PM	#2
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Dear Pitt1999, i hope members within this subject pop in with their opinions. I confess my ignorance, and would like to be enlightened over tanged spearheads having to be so incredibly old . . Last edited by fernando; 25th September 2023 at 05:02 PM. Reason: Spell

25th September 2023, 04:31 PM	#3
Interested Party Member Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Eastern Sierra Posts: 465	Just to throw the idea out there. A North American trade spear head? Edit: I just re read the post and saw it came from Rick. So, I am sure it is as he states to the best of his knowledge. That said I am guessing this is an archeological find then? Is the location still known? As Fernando implies above does it being a tanged spear head limit it to needing to be from 1000 AD or prior? I know N.A. trade blades were made with a tang. I would imagine European manufactures were making trade blades for many customers at the time of colonization. Last edited by Interested Party; 25th September 2023 at 05:35 PM. Reason: Correction

26th September 2023, 12:06 AM	#4
Pitt1999 Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 105	I believe that the approximate age he gave this head was due to the piece's corrosion and pitting rather than it's tanged construction. I had the thought that this piece, being of tanged construction, meant that it was potentially ancient because of my sparse knowledge of spearhead construction. Rick and I conversed about this piece through email and he told me that this head doesn't have any provenance attached to it and it's deep pitting and corrosion led him to believe that it was dug up at some point in it's life.