A 5th century BC Spear Re-created

Hello Everyone!

Last weekend (March 7), we returned once again to the forge and finished our prototype spear! We attached the central rib to the other side of the spear head. So as to not damage the rib we added last time, we had to be very careful in our hammering and used a wooden stump as an anvil, much as the ancient Celts would have done.

Using our top and bottom swages for the second rib

Wooden stump as anvil

As mentioned in the last post, we made the prototype spear head a little too long. However, this "error" worked to our advantage, since we decided to simply hammer out the last 4 inches into the socket. Having never made a spear socket before, we first experimented with piece of scrap metal to figure out which tools and techniques we wanted to use. Next, we used the "flatter" hammer - a hammer with a square face designed to flatten out metal - to prepare the end of our spear head.

The "flatter" hammer in action

Once we had the desired dimensions, we heated this section of the spear up and wrapped it around the long, pointed end of a special stake anvil to achieve a cylindrical shape. Composed of a small rectangular piece attached to a metallic spike, a stake anvil is significantly smaller than a modern, standard anvil and has the advantage of being far more portable! Since metal was a highly prized but restricted resource, archaeologists believe that the Iron Age Celts would have used similar, smaller anvils. To make longer pieces, blacksmiths can line up several stake anvils in a row.

A basic stake anvil

Creating the socket

After finishing the socket, we straightened out the full spear head on the wooden stump, this time also using a wooden hammer, so as to not damage any of the details. Although the central ribs turned out a little less than perfectly straight, we were very pleased with the overall result!

While the finished prototype spear finished cooling off from the forge, we used a sanding belt in the MakerSpace wood shop to pare down the top of an old broom handle to the right size to fit snugly inside the socket. Finally, we wrapped a tablet-woven band that one of us had made around the spear to act as functional decoration - a striking splash of color and a cushion for the grip! Tablet weaving is a very old textile making technique; in some European countries, archaeological evidence for tablet-weaving stretches back to at least the Bronze Age. Additionally, we know that the ancient Celts used this weaving technique since fragments of early Iron Age tablet-woven textiles have been found in the salt-mine site of Hallstatt, Austria (see Textiles and Textile Production in Europe from Prehistory to AD 400, 2012, edited by M. Gleba and U. Mannering.) Generally, tablet weaving is used to make decorative borders and woven belts. For an introduction to tablet weaving, see: https://www.shelaghlewins.com/tablet_weaving/TW01/TW01.htm

A sample of textiles from the site of Hallstatt. Image credit: Grömer 2012, in Gleba and Mannering

The tablet-woven band on our spear

At roughly six and half feet tall, the finished piece is an impressive weapon! We look forward to using this as a show-and-tell piece during our presentations on this project in the future. Take care and stay tuned for our next update!