Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as bone, flint, obsidian, iron, steel, or bronze. The most common design for hunting or combat spears since ancient times has incorporated a metal spearhead shaped like a triangle, lozenge, or leaf. The heads of fishing spears usually feature barbs or serrated edges.

The word '' spear'' comes from the Old English '' spere'', from the Proto-Germanic ''speri'', from a Proto-Indo-European root ''*sper-'' "spear, pole".
Spears can be divided into two broad categories: those designed for thrusting as a melee weapon and those designed for throwing as a ranged weapon (usually referred to as javelins or darts).

The spear has been used throughout human history both as a hunting and fishing tool and as a weapon. Along with the club, knife, and axe, it is one of the earliest and most important tools developed by early humans. As a weapon, it may be wielded with either one or two hands. It was used in virtually every conflict up until the modern era, where even then it continues on in the form of the fixed bayonet on a long gun, and is probably the most commonly used weapon in history.

Origins

Spear manufacture and use is not confined to humans. It is also practiced by the western chimpanzee. Chimpanzees near Kédougou, Senegal have been observed to create spears by breaking straight limbs off trees, stripping them of their bark and side branches, and sharpening one end with their teeth. They then used the weapons to hunt galagos sleeping in hollows.

Prehistory

Archaeological evidence found in present-day Germany documents that wooden spears have been used for hunting since at least 400,000 years ago, and a 2012 study from the site of Kathu Pan in South Africa suggests that hominids, possibly '' Homo heidelbergensis'', may have developed the technology of hafted stone-tipped spears in Africa about 500,000 years ago. Wood does not preserve well, however, and Craig Stanford, a primatologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Southern California, has suggested that the discovery of spear use by chimpanzees means that early humans may have used wooden spears before this.

Neanderthals were constructing stone spear heads from as early as 300,000 BP, and by 250,000 years ago, wooden spears were made with fire-hardened points.

From circa 200,000 BCE onwards, Middle Paleolithic humans began to make complex stone blades with flaked edges which were used as spear heads. These stone heads could be fixed to the spear shaft by gum or resin or by bindings made of animal sinew, leather strips or vegetable matter. During this period, a clear difference remained between spears designed to be thrown and those designed to be used in hand-to-hand combat. By the Magdalenian period (c. 15,000–9500 BCE), spear-throwers similar to the later atlatl were in use.

Military

Europe

Classical antiquity

=Ancient Greeks

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The spear is the main weapon of the warriors of Homer's ''Iliad''. The use of both a single thrusting spear and two throwing spears are mentioned. It has been suggested that two styles of combat are being described; an early style, with thrusting spears, dating to the Mycenaean period in which the Iliad is set, and, anachronistically, a later style, with throwing spears, from Homer's own Archaic period.

In the 7th century BCE, the Greeks evolved a new close-order infantry formation, the phalanx. The key to this formation was the hoplite, who was equipped with a large, circular, bronze-faced shield ( aspis) and a spear with an iron head and bronze butt-spike ( doru). The hoplite phalanx dominated warfare among the Greek City States from the 7th into the 4th century BCE.

The 4th century saw major changes. One was the greater use of peltasts, light infantry armed with spear and javelins. The other was the development of the sarissa, a two-handed pike in length, by the Macedonians under Phillip of Macedon and Alexander the Great. The pike phalanx, supported by peltasts and cavalry, became the dominant mode of warfare among the Greeks from the late 4th century onward until Greek military systems were supplanted by the Roman legions.

=Ancient Romans

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In the pre-Marian Roman armies, the first two lines of battle, the '' hastati'' and '' principes'', often fought with a sword called a '' gladius'' and '' pila'', heavy javelins that were specifically designed to be thrown at an enemy to pierce and foul a target's shield. Originally the '' principes'' were armed with a short spear called a ''hasta'', but these gradually fell out of use, eventually being replaced by the gladius. The third line, the '' triarii'', continued to use the ''hasta''.

From the late 2nd century BCE, all legionaries were equipped with the ''pilum''. The ''pilum'' continued to be the standard legionary spear until the end of the 2nd century CE. '' Auxilia'', however, were equipped with a simple hasta and, perhaps, javelins or darts. During the 3rd century CE, although the ''pilum'' continued to be used, legionaries usually were equipped with other forms of throwing and thrusting spear, similar to ''auxilia'' of the previous century. By the 4th century, the ''pilum'' had effectively disappeared from common use.

In the late period of the Roman Empire, the spear became more often used because of its anti-cavalry capacities as the barbarian invasions were often conducted by people with a developed culture of cavalry in warfare.

Medieval period

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the spear and shield continued to be used by nearly all Western European cultures. Since a medieval spear required only a small amount of steel along the sharpened edges (most of the spear-tip was wrought iron), it was an economical weapon. Quick to manufacture, and needing less smithing skill than a sword, it remained the main weapon of the common soldier. The Vikings, for instance, although often portrayed with axe or sword in hand, were armed mostly with spears, as were their Anglo-Saxon, Irish, or continental contemporaries.

=Infantry

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Broadly speaking, spears were either designed to be used in melee, or to be thrown. Within this simple classification, there was a remarkable range of types. For example, M. J. Swanton identified thirty different spearhead categories and sub-categories in early Saxon England. Most medieval spearheads were generally leaf-shaped. Notable types of early medieval spears include the ''angon'', a throwing spear with a long head similar to the Roman '' pilum'', used by the Franks and Anglo-Saxons, and the winged (or lugged) spear, which had two prominent wings at the base of the spearhead, either to prevent the spear penetrating too far into an enemy or to aid in spear fencing. Originally a Frankish weapon, the winged spear also was popular with the Vikings. It would become the ancestor of later medieval polearms, such as the partisan and spetum.

The thrusting spear also has the advantage of reach, being considerably longer than other weapon types. Exact spear lengths are hard to deduce as few spear shafts survive archaeologically but would seem to have been the norm. Some nations were noted for their long spears, including the Scots and the Flemish. Spears usually were used in tightly ordered formations, such as the shield wall or the schiltron. To resist cavalry, spear shafts could be planted against the ground. William Wallace drew up his schiltrons in a circle at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 to deter charging cavalry; this was a widespread tactic sometimes known as the "crown" formation. Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray used a circular schiltron on the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn. However, the rectangular schiltron was much more common and was used by King Robert the Bruce on the second day of the Battle of Bannockburn and in the Battle of Old Byland when he defeated English armies.

Throwing spears became rarer as the Middle Ages drew on, but survived in the hands of specialists such as the Catalan Almogavars. They were commonly used in Ireland until the end of the 16th century.

Spears began to lose fashion among the infantry during the 14th century, being replaced by pole weapons that combined the thrusting properties of the spear with the cutting properties of the axe, such as the halberd. Where spears were retained they grew in length, eventually evolving into pikes, which would be a dominant infantry weapon in the 16th and 17th centuries.

=Cavalry

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Cavalry spears were originally the same as infantry spears and were often used with two hands or held with one hand overhead. In the 12th century, after the adoption of stirrups and a high-cantled saddle, the spear became a decidedly more powerful weapon. A mounted knight would secure the lance by holding it with one hand and tucking it under the armpit (the ''couched lance'' technique) This allowed all the momentum of the horse and knight to be focused on the weapon's tip, whilst still retaining accuracy and control. This use of the spear spurred the development of the lance as a distinct weapon that was perfected in the medieval sport of jousting.

In the 14th century, tactical developments meant that knights and men-at-arms often fought on foot. This led to the practice of shortening the lance to about .) to make it more manageable. As dismounting became commonplace, specialist pole weapons such as the pollaxe were adopted by knights and this practice ceased.

Introduction of gunpowder

The development of both the long, two-handed pike and gunpowder firearms in Renaissance Europe saw an ever-increasing focus on integrated infantry tactics. Those infantry not armed with these weapons carried variations on the polearm, including the halberd and the bill. At the start of the Renaissance, cavalry remained predominantly lance-armed; gendarmes with the heavy knightly lance and lighter cavalry with a variety of lighter lances. By the 1540s, however, pistol-armed cavalry called reiters were beginning to make their mark. Cavalry armed with pistols and other lighter firearms, along with a sword, had virtually replaced lance armed cavalry in Western Europe by the beginning of the 17th century.

Ultimately, the spear proper was rendered obsolete on the battlefield. Its last flowering was the half-pike or spontoon, a shortened version of the pike carried by officers of various ranks. While originally a weapon, this came to be seen more as a badge of office, or ''leading staff'' by which troops were directed. The half-pike, sometimes known as a boarding pike, was also used as a weapon on board ships until the late 19th century.

Middle East

Modern era

Muslim warriors used a spear that was called an '' az-zaġāyah''. Berbers pronounced it ''zaġāya'', but the English term, derived from the Old French via Berber, is "assegai". It is a pole weapon used for throwing or hurling, usually a light spear or javelin made of hard wood and pointed with a forged iron tip. The ''az-zaġāyah'' played an important role during the Islamic conquest as well as during later periods, well into the 20th century. A longer pole ''az-zaġāyah'' was being used as a hunting weapon from horseback. The ''az-zaġāyah'' was widely used. It existed in various forms in areas stretching from Southern Africa to the Indian subcontinent, although these places already had their own variants of the spear. This javelin was the weapon of choice during the '' Fulani jihad'' as well as during the Mahdist War in Sudan. It is still being used by certain wandering Sufi ascetics ''( Derwishes)''.

Asia

China

In the Chinese martial arts, the Chinese spear ( Qiang 槍) is popularly known as the "king of weapons". The spear is listed in the group of the four major weapons (along with the gun (staff), dao (a single-edged blade similar to a sabre), and the jian ( sword)).

Spears were used first as hunting weapons amongst the ancient Chinese. They became popular as infantry weapons during the Warring States and Qin era, when spearmen were used as especially highly disciplined soldiers in organized group attacks. When used in formation fighting, spearmen would line up their large rectangular or circular shields in a shieldwall manner. The Qin also employed long spears (more akin to a pike) in formations similar to Swiss pikemen in order to ward off cavalry. The Han Empire would use similar tactics as its Qin predecessors. Halberds, polearms, and dagger axes were also common weapons during this time.

Spears were also common weaponry for Warring States, Qin, and Han era cavalry units. During these eras, the spear would develop into a longer lance-like weapon used for cavalry charges.

There are many words in Chinese that would be classified as a spear in English. The ''Mao'' is the predecessor of the '' Qiang''. The first bronze ''Mao'' appeared in the Shang dynasty. This weapon was less prominent on the battlefield than the ''ge'' ( dagger-axe). In some archaeological examples two tiny holes or ears can be found in the blade of the spearhead near the socket, these holes were presumably used to attach tassels, much like modern day wushu spears.

In the early Shang, the ''Mao'' appeared to have a relatively short shaft as well as a relatively narrow shaft as opposed to ''Mao'' in the later Shang and Western Zhou period. Some ''Mao'' from this era are heavily decorated as is evidenced by a Warring States period ''Mao'' from the Ba Shu area.

In the Han dynasty the ''Mao'' and the '' Ji'' (戟 ''Ji'' can be loosely defined as a halberd) rose to prominence in the military. Interesting to note is that the amount of iron Mao-heads found exceeds the number of bronze heads. By the end of the Han dynasty ( Eastern Han) the process of replacement of the iron ''Mao'' had been completed and the bronze ''Mao'' had been rendered completely obsolete. After the Han dynasty toward the Sui and Tang dynasties the ''Mao'' used by cavalry were fitted with much longer shafts, as is mentioned above. During this era, the use of the ''Shuo'' (矟) was widespread among the footmen. The ''Shuo'' can be likened to a pike or simply a long spear.

After the Tang dynasty, the popularity of the ''Mao'' declined and was replaced by the '' Qiang'' (枪). The Tang dynasty divided the ''Qiang'' in four categories: "一曰漆枪， 二曰木枪， 三曰白杆枪， 四曰扑头枪。” Roughly translated the four categories are: Qi (a kind of wood) Spears, Wooden Spears, Bai Gan (A kind of wood) Spears and Pu Tou Qiang. The Qiang that were produced in the Song and Ming dynasties consisted of four major parts: Spearhead, Shaft, End Spike and Tassel. The types of Qiang that exist are many. Among the types there are cavalry Qiang that were the length of one ''zhang'' (eleven feet and nine inches or 3.58 m), Litte-Flower Spears (Xiao Hua Qiang 小花枪) that are the length of one person and their arm extended above his head, double hooked spears, single hooked spears, ringed spears and many more.

There is some confusion as to how to distinguish the ''Qiang'' from the ''Mao'', as they are obviously very similar. Some people say that a ''Mao'' is longer than a ''Qiang'', others say that the main difference is between the stiffness of the shaft, where the ''Qiang'' would be flexible and the ''Mao'' would be stiff. Scholars seem to lean toward the latter explanation more than the former. Because of the difference in the construction of the ''Mao'' and the ''Qiang'', the usage is also different, though there is no definitive answer as to what exactly the differences are between the ''Mao'' and the ''Qiang''.

India

Spears are known as Bhala in Indian languages. Spears in the Indian society were used both in missile and non-missile form, both by cavalry and foot-soldiers. Mounted spear-fighting was practiced using with a ten-foot, ball-tipped wooden lance called a ''bothati'', the end of which was covered in dye so that hits may be confirmed. Spears were constructed from a variety of materials such as the ''sang'' made completely of steel, and the ''ballam'' which had a bamboo shaft.

The Arab presence in Sindh and the Mameluks of Delhi introduced the Middle Eastern javelin into India.

The Rajputs wielded a type of spear for infantrymen which had a club integrated into the spearhead, and a pointed butt end. Other spears had forked blades, several spear-points, and numerous other innovations. One particular spear unique to India was the ''vita'' or corded lance.

Used by the Maratha army, it had a rope connecting the spear with the user's wrist, allowing the weapon to be thrown and pulled back. The '' Vel'' is a type of spear or lance, originated in Southern India, primarily used by Tamils.

Sikh Nihangs sometimes carry a spear even today. Spears were used in conflicts and training by armed paramilitary units such as the razakars of Nizams of Hyderabad State as late as the second half of the 20th century.

Japan

The hoko spear was used in ancient Japan sometime between the Yayoi period and the Heian period, but it became unpopular as early samurai often acted as horseback archers. Medieval Japan employed spears again for infantrymen to use, but it was not until the 11th century in that samurai began to prefer spears over bows. Several polearms were used in the Japanese theatres; the naginata was a glaive-like weapon with a long, curved blade popularly among the samurai and the Buddhist warrior-monks, often used against cavalry; the yari was a longer polearm, with a straight-bladed spearhead, which became the weapon of choice of both the samurai and the ashigaru (footmen) during the Warring States Era; the horseback samurai used shorter yari for his single-armed combat; on the other hand, ashigaru infantries used long yari (similar with European pike) for their massed combat formation.

Philippines

Filipino spears ( sibat) were used as both a weapon and a tool throughout the Philippines. It is also called a ''bangkaw'' (after the Bankaw Revolt.), ''sumbling'' or ''palupad'' in the islands of Visayas and Mindanao. Sibat are typically made from rattan, either with a sharpened tip or a head made from metal. These heads may either be single-edged, double-edged or barbed. Styles