a flanged spear from Crete

Skarts_ss · 4th March 2014, 11:37 AM

Hi thank you for the advise regarding the law... i know it very well. This item was not found by me and it is not from an excavation site or wreck. It was given to me by a villager who had it many years and thought that it was a farming tool.
You can see that it is bent and it was used for other purposes...Crete is well known for recycling objects during the long time in wars and revolts. The law concerning antiquities in Greece is till 1453 and post Byzantine till 1830. Unfortunately after all these uprisings and conquerors, Crete has not much to give as far as midle ages weaponry is concerned. Thats why i post it here. Because i want someone to give me a direction. Probably i will present it to the 13th Ephorate and ask for a permit to own it. I think that this is the best option. I love history of that period and and i collect old weapons mainly from the Ottoman rule and as far as i know they are not restricted(I have my Great great great grand father weapons who fought the Turks in 1866 and after.These weapons are of mid 18th century. Could it be illegall to posses them????). However i think that spears like this, often make apearence in auctions

E Farrell · 4th March 2014, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skarts_ss

I love history of that period and and i collect old weapons mainly from the Ottoman rule and as far as i know they are not restricted(I have my Great great great grand father weapons who fought the Turks in 1866 and after.These weapons are of mid 18th century. Could it be illegall to posses them????). However i think that spears like this, often make apearence in auctions

My knowledge of Greek law is from a previous job as an archaeologist/ceramicist on Crete. The legal aspect is not something that I ever had to deal with directly, so I am only really aware of the basics.

Having said that, I think it would be very unlikely to be illegal to own weapons passed down in the family from Ottoman period. I don't know of any restrictions on late Ottoman, and I know there is a thriving collectors market for it. It is only the suggestion for this particular spear being earlier than 1453CE which would make me a little bit wary.

4th March 2014, 11:37 AM	#1
Skarts_ss Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 47	Hi thank you for the advise regarding the law... i know it very well. This item was not found by me and it is not from an excavation site or wreck. It was given to me by a villager who had it many years and thought that it was a farming tool. You can see that it is bent and it was used for other purposes...Crete is well known for recycling objects during the long time in wars and revolts. The law concerning antiquities in Greece is till 1453 and post Byzantine till 1830. Unfortunately after all these uprisings and conquerors, Crete has not much to give as far as midle ages weaponry is concerned. Thats why i post it here. Because i want someone to give me a direction. Probably i will present it to the 13th Ephorate and ask for a permit to own it. I think that this is the best option. I love history of that period and and i collect old weapons mainly from the Ottoman rule and as far as i know they are not restricted(I have my Great great great grand father weapons who fought the Turks in 1866 and after.These weapons are of mid 18th century. Could it be illegall to posses them????). However i think that spears like this, often make apearence in auctions