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LOT 1385
Germanic Iron Socketted Javelin Head
CIRCA 5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.
16 in. (210 grams, 40.7 cm).
Long shaft tapering towards a triangular blade with strong mid-rib and squared shoulders; professionally cleaned, conserved, and restored. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the family collection of a South East London collector; formerly acquired in the late 1950s.
LiteratureCf. Wilcox, P., Rome's Enemies, Germanic and Dacians, London, 1982, p.25, for a similar specimen from Austria.
FootnotesThe total length of these javelins, including iron heads, shanks and wooden shafts, was probably about 210cm. The design was, obviously, intended to kill or cripple efficiently. The length of the shaft suggest that these javelins, including the infamous angon, were used also in hand to hand combat, where there was a danger of the head being lopped off.
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