LOT 1482

Greek Bronze Tri-Finned Arrowhead Collection

CIRCA 7TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.

7/8 - 1 3/4 in. (77 grams total, 23-46 mm).

Comprising: seven arrowheads with a slender, lozenge-shaped blade and a socket extending near the tip, base of the socket with a side lug; eight socketted bronze arrowheads, mainly triangular or foliate in section, trilobate and with short socket. [15, No Reserve]

UK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.

Cf. Sekunda, N., Marathon 490 BC, The first Persian invasion of Greece, Oxford, 2002, p.60; Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, in Russian, for similar arrowheads from Eurasian sites (plate XLIV, figs.19, 31, 32, 36, 37, 38, 39, 51, 71).

The Scythians were famous for their archery abilities, and were often employed as mercenaries. The Athenian tyrant Pisistratus hired them and they participated in battles beside the Athenian phalanx as well as serving as a police corps keeping order within the city of Athens. This explains the great range of Scythian arrowheads found on the Greek sites.