Romano-British

[Imperial Dave]

My rule of thumb is under 6ft is a short spear, over 9ft is a long spear.  In between its a spear   Roy and I are clearly working from the same archaeological recollection that the average A/S spear is around 7ft (throwing types like angons not included).  However, the sample size is pretty low.

A long spear might also be considered so because of relative rather than absolute length.  If one side is using short spears and the other is using 'spears ', the 'spears ' will seem like long spears, at least to the short-spear-using opponents.

and the chalice from the palace holds the brew that is true! 

I guess relative length does make sense in all seriousness