Anglo Saxon Spears

[aligern]

From a recent Oxbow Books Catalogue I acquired ' Two Anglo Saxon Cemeteries at Beckford, Hereford and Worcester' by Evison and Hill. It was not expensive and in the category of 'That looks interesting'.  I am not an Anglo Saxon specialist, but I try to add Dark Age information whenever possible.
In the discussiojn of finds there was an interesting conclusion.  I wonder whether any here have come across it before or have thoughts upon it.  The general conclusion was that mostr male graves contained one spear, some two. Most male adult graves had shield bosses as well as spears.  The size of a spear where calculable from a butt spike was 5ft 3 inches. Longer spears  may have been placed at an angle vertically, but they will not have been that much longer.
The interesting (though tentative ) conclusion was that longer spearheads appeared with older men.  This is apparently discussed in Heinrich Harke 1990 'Warrior Graves? The Background of the Anglo Saxon  weapon burial rite, Past and Present  no 126 22-43.
The spearheads  vary from 18cm to 46cm.  The authors make the point that this is not always the rule in other cemeteries., but there are graveyards that repeat this broad  trend which they cite.
Naturally a boy of 9-11 could be assumed to be given a light, short spear , perhaps more symbolic than practical (though we could not rule out the boys carrying spears. What is more pertinent is that young adults who we might assume to be militarilily active had spearheads of 20-25cm whereas older men had spearheads 28-30cm and the oldest men spearheads 37-45 cm.... and a 45cm spearhead is big!
I wonder if there is any tactical implication to this?   Are the bigger spearheads indicative of a different use, perhaps as part of a throwing/thrusting spear pair , whereas younger men had only lighter dual purpose spears?  Would the whole thing simply be a matter of what was seen as appropriate grave good provision on a display or ritual basis with no significance for military use?

Roy

[Erpingham]

Not being a believer in the fashioning of special Anglo-Saxon funerary spears, I think I would go for a pre-mortem explanation.  It, of course, doesn't have to be a combat-related one.  The size of ones spear could be a sign of social status, for example.  Or, if you were a follower of Frazer's Golden Bough, one's manliness:)

BTW, a 5ft. 3in spear is at the short end of the Anglo-Saxon range isn't it?  Aren't they usually 7ft. or so?  Yet, given it has a butt finial, this is usually interpreted as a sign of a thrusting weapon, not a throwing one.

[Patrick Waterson]

Writing entirely from ignorance here (and hence welcoming correction from ayone knowledgeable in the era/field), I wonder if the Anglo-Saxon spear was crafted for the wielder, and a larger/longer/heavier spear would reflect the developing/developed strength of the individual.  It is hard (for me at least ;-) ) to envisage any significant tactical roles for differently-sized spearheads, though I would not wish to rule out possibilities of one for hurling and one for thrusting.

Does anyone else with an interest in matters Anglo-Saxon have any thoughts on the matter?

Patrick

[aligern]

We are talking twice the size as the relationship between the lighter spears and the heaviest. That's quite a lot. The longer head is also gong to be much heavier and tends to be associated with the butt spike.

However, I doubt that the younger men would have swords. So my thinking would be that everyone carries  a dual purpose 'light' spear and  probably  a pair and that older, perhaps richer? men carry the light spear and a heavy spear that might also be used on horseback.

Roy