Lugs and transverse stopping bars on pole arms
Hi Anandalal,
I completely agree with your thoughts. All oriental matchlocks (Turkish, Arabian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Cingalese and Chinese - hope I did not forget any important country) have in common that they feature no wing nut on the serpentine.
When the head of the serpentine was of small tubular shape or the two halves of the serpentine (actually the serpentine is not "split" as it would not have a spring loaded function then) were thick enough to act as a tightening spring, German matchlocks did not need a wing nut either.
In Europe, transverse reinforced stopping bars seem to have originated from 8th to 9th centuries lugged spears.
Transverse bars are mostly found on 15th-19th century boar spears where, interesting enough, they often consist of a piece of staghorn and are leather bound to the haft right below the iron socket of the blade to stop dead an onrunnig animal.
When it comes to partizans/spontoons, transverse bars are often kept as the stylized remains of a former functional element.
Michael
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