![]() ![]() The use of both a single thrusting spear and two throwing spears are mentioned. The spear is the main weapon of the warriors of Homer's Iliad. 2450 BC Europe Classical antiquity Ancient Greeks Athenian warrior wielding a spear in battle Military Sumerian spearmen advancing in close formation with large shields – Stele of the Vultures, c. 15,000–9500 BC), spear-throwers similar to the later atlatl were in use. During this period, a clear difference remained between spears designed to be thrown and those designed to be used in hand-to-hand combat. These stone heads could be fixed to the spear shaft by gum or resin or by bindings made of animal sinew, leather strips or vegetable matter. ![]() įrom circa 200,000 BC onwards, Middle Paleolithic humans began to make complex stone blades with flaked edges which were used as spear heads. Wood does not preserve well, however, and Craig Stanford, a primatologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Southern California, has suggested that the discovery of spear use by chimpanzees means that early humans may have used wooden spears before this. A 2012 study from the site of Kathu Pan in South Africa suggests that hominids, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, may have developed the technology of hafted stone-tipped spears in Africa about 500,000 years ago. The Clacton Spear found in England and the Schöningen spears found in present-day Germany documents that wooden spears have been used for hunting since at least 400,000 years ago. Hunting spear and knife, from Mesa Verde National Park It was used in virtually every conflict up until the modern era, where even then it continues on in the form of the fixed bayonet on a long gun, and is probably the most commonly used weapon in history. As a weapon, it may be wielded with either one or two hands. Along with the club, knife, and axe, it is one of the earliest and most important tools developed by early humans. The spear has been used throughout human history both as a hunting and fishing tool and as a weapon. Spears can be divided into two broad categories: those designed for thrusting as a melee weapon and those designed for throwing as a ranged weapon (usually referred to as javelins or darts). The word spear comes from the Old English spere, from the Proto-Germanic speri, from a Proto-Indo-European root *sper- "spear, pole". ![]() The heads of fishing spears usually feature barbs or serrated edges. The most common design for hunting or combat spears since ancient times has incorporated a metal spearhead shaped like a triangle, lozenge, or leaf. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as bone, flint, obsidian, iron, steel, or bronze. Spear-armed hoplite from Greco-Persian WarsĪ spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. JSTOR ( October 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification. ![]()
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