spear-head
- Museum number
- 1892,0901.1019
- Description
-
Iron socketed spear-head. The blade widens from the socket with slightly concave edges before narrowing again to form a long thin tip. The socket is split.
- Dimensions
-
Length: 207 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- Manning 1985
In its general proportions the blade of this piece is not dissimilar to Group III, but its form is quite atypical and is unlike any of the normal types of Roman spearheads. The closest comparable examples are a small group which have narrow blades, often with blunt edges, which expand at their base into almost circular plates (Manning 1976, 19, Type 3, fig. 13, 16-18; Scott 1980, 339). However, the comparison is not precise and where dated this type is considerably later than the Hod Hill material.
It may be an unusual Roman piece, but the form of the blade and the long split socket are reminiscent of certain Anglo-Saxon spearheads, in particular Swanton's Type E2 (Swanton 1973, 81, figs 25 & 26), a type which is not uncommon in the Dorset region, and a Saxon rather than early Roman date must be accepted as being probable.
- Location
- Not on display
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1892,0901.1019