Spear Butt

The Spear Butt

by Stephen Francis Wyley

A spear butt or shoe was a metal ferrule which was attached to the base of a spear shaft, which could have been used for a number of purposes such as: to counterbalance the weight of the head; or to make it easier to stick into the ground; and in one source it is suggested that it even could have been used as a substitute weapon.

The spear butt has been used since Ancient times. The Greek term for a spear butt was 'sauroter' which was proportional to the length of the head of the spear but was normally shorter (see figure 1.).

An extant conical spear butt from Sardis (Turkey ?) from the 6th century B.C. was made from a sheet of iron, it had a length of 7.7 cm and a diameter at the aperture for the shaft was 1.5cm (see figure 2).

The design of spear butt which appears the most often is a cone which would have been shaped from sheet metal. The only other different spear butt design from the Medieval period is from a late 10th - early 11th century Byzantine ship wreck¹ . This supposed spear butt appears to have a central spike flanked by two smaller lobes and the base consists of a ring surrounding the base which I suspect was used to attach it to the shaft (see figure 3.).

So far I have only found one example of a spear butt from Medieval Europe, its from a 9th century warriors grave in a pagan cemetery at Kilmainhan - Islandbridge outside Dublin. The spear buutt is the typical conical design and is approximately 10cm long and 2cm wide at the aperture for the spear (see figure 4.).

In conclusion, the most often used design for a spear butt was a conical shape and proportionally shorter than the head. I have not yet discovered the weight of the extant examples or if there are any other examples of other design in Europe. That will take further research, if anyone has any further information could they please write to me.

Bibliography.

Graham-Campbell, J.,The Viking World, 1980.

Nicolle, D., Saladin and the Saracens, 1987.

Tarssuk, L.& Blair, C., The Complete Encyclopedia of Armour and Weapons, 1982.

Waldbaum, J. C., Metalwork from Sardis, 1983.

¹ Nicolle fails to note any further information about this Byzantine shipwreck. The shipwreck is in fact the Serçe Liman1, an 11th Century Byzantine Shipwreck (excavated by the Institute for Nautical Archaeology, University of Texas.

Links.

Serçe Liman1, an 11th Century Byzantine Shipwreck (excavated by the Institute for Nautical Archaeology, University of Texas (picture of an extant spear butt) [dead links 22 Aug 2020]

UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, THE SHEFTON MUSEUM OF GREEK ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY. Arms and Armour: Classical and Hellenistic Weapons (picture and description of an extant spear butt) [now managed by Tyne & Wear Museums and Archive for the University - link updated 22 Aug 2020]

A SPECIALIST COLLECTION OF ROMAN IRON TOOLS [dead link 22 Aug 2020]

The Spear Butt - An Addenda

by Stephen Francis Wyley

Information on three more spear butts have come to my attention after a recent discussion with my colleague Peter Beatson. I am indebted to Peter for providing a copy of the document in question.

The line drawings (A,B &C) are of BTOK from Novogod, Russia from between the 10th to the 13th century.

The size of the piece illustrated is unknown but by comparing them with spear heads from the same plate it could be concluded that the largest (A) is about 10 centimetres long and the other two (B & C) are 5 centimetres and 7 centimetres long. (A) clearly shows a whole in the wider portion of the cone which could be the means of attachment to the shaft. (B) clearly shows the join of the cone where the two sides were joined together during forging. All three do not have a pointed apex therefore precluding them as part of the weapon.

These pieces support my original conclusion the "the most often used design for a spear butt was a conical shape and proportionally shorter than the spear head.

Stephen Francis Wyley

Reference.

Avdusin, D.A., Arkheologiia SSSR (The Archaeology of the USSR), Visschaia Schkola: Moscow,1967.