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Details
LOT 1432
Scythian Bronze Arrowhead Collection
CIRCA 7TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
1 5/8 - 2 1/8 in. (158 grams total, 41-53 mm).
Each with a slender, lozenge-shaped blade and a socket extending near the tip, base of the socket with a side lug. [22, No Reserve]
Provenance
UK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.
Literature
Cf. Furtwängler, A., Olympia. Die Ergebnisse der von dem Deutschen Reich veranstalteten Ausgrabung, Band 4. 2 Bände (Textband, Tafelband), Berlin, 1890, pl.LXIV, nos.1077, 1078, 1080, 1085, 1087, 1088.
Footnotes
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.
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