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96-412: An assegai or assagai is a polearm used for throwing, usually a light spear or javelin made up of a wooden handle with an iron tip. The use of various types of the assegai was widespread all over Africa and it was the most common weapon used before the introduction of firearms. The Zulu , Xhosa , and other Nguni tribes of South Africa were renowned for their use of the assegai. Shaka of

192-452: A 30 cm (1 ft) shaft and a larger, broader blade one foot (0.3m) long. This weapon is otherwise known as the iklwa or ixwa , after the sound that was heard as it was withdrawn from the victim's wound. The traditional spear was not abandoned, but was used to range attack enemy formations before closing in for close quarters battle with the iklwa. This tactical combination originated during Shaka's military reforms . This weapon

288-766: 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

384-548: 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 BC), spear-throwers similar to the later atlatl were in use. 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

480-635: A defensive block. When men on horses tried to get by these blocks, they would often be killed by the spears that could poke through the shield walls. Spears became more common than swords and axes because of how cheap, long, and fast spears were made. 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

576-541: A head made from metal. These heads may either be single-edged, double-edged or barbed. Styles vary according to function and origin. For example, a sibat designed for fishing may not be the same as those used for hunting. The spear was used as the primary weapon in expeditions and battles against neighbouring island kingdoms and it became famous during the 1521 Battle of Mactan , where the chieftain Lapu Lapu of Cebu fought against Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan who

672-414: A hunter to dress as a buffalo and lure one into a ravine where other hunters were hiding. Once the buffalo appeared, the other hunters would kill him with spears. A variation of this technique, called the buffalo jump , was when a runner would lead the animals towards a cliff. As the buffalo got close to the cliff, other members of the tribe would jump out from behind rocks or trees and scare the buffalo over

768-440: A long blade used by both infantry and cavalry. Occasionally glaive blades were created with a small hook or spike on the reverse side. Such glaives are named glaive-guisarme . A voulge (occasionally called a pole cleaver ) is a curved blade attached to a pole by binding the lower two-thirds of the blade to the side of the pole, to form a sort of axe. Looks very similar to a glaive . A svärdstav (literally sword-staff )

864-412: A long pole on its tang, not unlike a naginata . A naginata (なぎなた or 薙刀) is a Japanese polearm that was traditionally used by members of the samurai class. A naginata consists of a wood shaft with a curved blade on the end. Usually it also had a sword-like guard ( tsuba ) between the blade and shaft. It was mounted with a tang and held in place with a pin or pins, rather than going over the shaft using

960-448: A metal spearhead shaped like a triangle , diamond , or leaf . The heads of fishing spears usually feature multiple sharp points , with or without barbs. Spears can be divided into two broad categories: those designed for thrusting as a melee weapon (including weapons such as lances and pikes ) and those designed for throwing as a ranged weapon (usually referred to as javelins ). The spear has been used throughout human history as

1056-486: A number of factors, including uncertainty in original descriptions, changes in weapons or nomenclature through time, mistranslation of terms, and the well-meaning inventiveness of later experts. For example, the word "halberd" is also used to translate the Chinese ji and also a range of medieval Scandinavian weapons as described in sagas , such as the atgeir . As well, all polearms developed from three early tools (the axe ,

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1152-434: A pointed metal counter weight used for striking and stabbing on the opposite end. The blade is very deep and curved on its face, resembling a Chinese saber, or dao . Variant designs include rings along the length of the straight back edge, as found in the nine-ring guandao. The "elephant" guandao's tip curls into a rounded spiral, while the dragon head guandao features a more ornate design. A podao , 'long-handled sabre',

1248-575: 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. From circa 200,000 BC 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,

1344-527: A revival in the 1930s. Spear hunting is still practiced in the United States. Animals taken are primarily wild boar and deer , although trophy animals as large as Cape Buffalo have been hunted with spears. Alligators are hunted in Florida with a type of harpoon . One of the gymnastic exercises performed by the ancient Greeks was the throwing of a spear, referred to as ἀκυντισμός. Like many weapons,

1440-458: A scythe-like blade. Other rarities include archaeology findings with two or sometimes three blades stacked in line on top of a pole, but were generally thought as ceremonial polearms. Though the weapon saw frequent use in ancient China, the use of the dagger-axe decreased dramatically after the Qin and Han dynasties. The ji combines the dagger axe with a spear. By the post-classical Chinese dynasties, with

1536-497: A simple hasta and, perhaps, javelins or darts. During the 3rd century AD, 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

1632-558: A socket. The naginata was developed based on the hoko yari from the 1st millennium AD or the tachi from the late Heian period (794ー1185). It was appreciated by samurai who fought on foot as a weapon to maintain optimal distance from the enemy in close combat, but after the Onin War in the 15th century, large groups of mobilized infantry called asigaru began to equip themselves with yari (spear) yumi (longbow) and tanegashima (gun), making naginata and tachi (long sword) obsolete on

1728-557: 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 polearm 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

1824-522: A spear-like polearm) in battle, not cutting them down with a curved blade. The guandao is also known as the chun qiu da dao ('spring autumn great knife'), again probably related to the depiction of Guan Yu in the Ming dynasty novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms , but possibly a Ming author's invention. It consists of a heavy blade mounted atop a 5-to-6-foot-long (1.5 to 1.8 m) wooden or metal pole with

1920-404: A spike mounted on a long shaft. It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants. Early forms are very similar in many ways to certain forms of voulge , while 16th century and later forms are similar to the pollaxe . The Swiss were famous users of the halberd in the medieval and renaissance eras, with various cantons evolving regional variations of

2016-473: A standard weapon, the woldo saw action on many fronts and was considered by many Korean troops to be a versatile weapon. Recently, a contemporary revival in various martial arts in Korea has brought interest into the application of the woldo and its history. A guandao or kwan tou is a type of Chinese polearm. In Chinese, it is properly called a yanyue dao (偃月刀), 'reclining moon blade'. Some believed it comes from

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2112-492: A sword, it remained the main weapon of the common soldier. The Vikings , for instance, although often portrayed with an axe , sword , or lance in hand, were armed mostly with spears, as were their Anglo-Saxon , Irish , or continental contemporaries. Spears eventually evolved into lances; this is where the lance depiction comes from. With a good majority of Medieval weapons being spears they became integrated into many war tactics. Spears were very commonly used while providing

2208-456: 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 BC, all legionaries were equipped with the pilum . The pilum continued to be the standard legionary spear until the end of the 2nd century AD. Auxilia , however, were equipped with

2304-623: 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

2400-443: A weapon for hunting and/or fishing and for warfare. Along with the club , knife , and axe , it is one of the earliest and most widespread tools ever 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 to this day, it lives on in the form of a bayonet fixed onto the muzzle of a long gun . The word spear comes from

2496-446: Is a Chinese polearm, also known as the zhan ma dao ('horsecutter sabre'), which has a lighter blade and a ring at the end. A podao is an infantryman's weapon, mainly used for cutting the legs off oncoming charging horses to bring down the riders. In the Song dynasty , several weapons were referred to as ji , but they were developed from spears, not from ancient ji . One variety was called

2592-419: Is a Swedish medieval polearm that consists of a two-edged sword blade attached to a 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) staff. The illustrations often show the weapon being equipped with sword-like quillons . The illustrations sometimes show a socket mount and reinforcing langets being used, but sometimes they are missing; it is possible this weapon was sometimes manufactured by simply attaching an old sword blade onto

2688-418: Is a type of weapon that was in use from Shang dynasty until at least Han dynasty China. It consists of a dagger-shaped blade made of bronze (or later iron) mounted by the tang to a perpendicular wooden shaft: a common Bronze Age infantry weapon, also used by charioteers. Some dagger axes include a spear-point. There is a (rare) variant type with a divided two-part head, consisting of the usual straight blade and

2784-527: Is a weapon with a heavy crescent-shaped head mounted on a haft 4 to 6 ft (1.2 to 1.8 m) in length. Originally a Viking weapon, it was adopted by the Anglo-Saxons and Normans in the 11th century, spreading through Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. Variants of this basic weapon continued in use in Scotland and Ireland into the 16th century. A form of 'long axe'. In the 13th century, variants on

2880-493: 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

2976-453: Is still being used by certain wandering Sufi ascetics ( Derwishes ) . 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

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3072-505: Is still used by practitioners of krabi krabong . Known in Malay as a dap , it consists of a wooden shaft with a curved blade fashioned onto the end, and is similar in design to the Korean woldo . Usually, it also had a hook (ขอ) between the blade and shaft used for commanding the elephant. The elephant warrior used the ngao like a blade from atop an elephant or horse during battle. The Dane axe

3168-461: Is the chauve-souris . A halberd (or Swiss voulge ) is a two-handed polearm that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries but has continued in use as a ceremonial weapon to the present day. First recorded as "hellembart" in 1279, the word halberd possibly comes from the German words Halm (staff) or Helm (helmet), and Barte (axe). The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with

3264-549: 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

3360-558: 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

3456-515: The Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa. Polearm Polearms can be divided into three broad categories: those designed for extended reach and thrusting tactics used in pike square or phalanx combat; those designed to increase leverage (due to hands moving freely on a pole) to maximize angular force (swinging tactics) against cavalry ; and those designed for throwing tactics used in skirmish line combat. The hook on weapons such as

3552-645: 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 BC, 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 210–270 cm (7–9 ft) spear with an iron head and bronze butt-spike ( doru ). The hoplite phalanx dominated warfare among

3648-549: The Old English spere , from the Proto-Germanic speri , from a Proto-Indo-European root *sper- "spear, pole". 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

3744-464: 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

3840-529: The Quaternary extinction event was that most of these animals were hunted to extinction by humans with spears. Even after the invention of other hunting weapons such as the bow and sling , the spear continued to be used, either as a projectile weapon or used by hand, such as in bear hunting and boar hunting . Spear hunting fell out of favor in most of Europe in the 18th century, but continued in Germany, enjoying

3936-468: The Three Great Spears of Japan , Tonbokiri . The Korean woldo was a variation of the Chinese guan dao. It was originally used by the post-classical Shilla warriors. Wielding the woldo took time due to its weight, but in the hands of a trained soldier, the woldo was a fearsome, agile weapon famous for enabling a single soldier to cut down ranks of infantrymen. The woldo was continually in use for

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4032-451: The Zulu popularized the use of the shorter stabbing spear with a 610 mm (24 in) shaft and a larger, broader blade 300 mm (12 in) long in warfare, which was traditionally used primarily as a hunting spear. This weapon is otherwise known as the iklwa or ixwa , after the sound that was heard as it was withdrawn from the victim's wound. The traditional spear was not abandoned, but

4128-652: The halberd was used for pulling or grappling tactics, especially against horsemen. Because of their versatility, high effectiveness and low cost, there were many variants of polearm, which were much-used weapons on the battlefield. Bills , picks , dane axes , spears , glaives , guandaos , pudaos , pikes , poleaxes , halberds , harpoons , sovnyas , tridents , naginatas , bardiches , war scythes , and lances are all varieties of polearms. Polearms were common weapons on post-classical battlefields of Asia and Europe. Their range and impact force made them effective weapons against armoured warriors on horseback, unhorsing

4224-555: The pollaxe were adopted by knights and this practice ceased. 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

4320-431: The qinglong ji ( Chinese : 青龍戟 ; lit. 'cerulean dragon ji'), and had a spear tip with a crescent blade on one side. Another type was the fangtian ji ( Chinese : 方天戟 ; lit. 'square sky ji'), which had a spear tip with crescent blades on both sides. They had multiple means of attack: the side blade or blades, the spear tip, plus often a rear counterweight that could be used to strike

4416-552: The razakars of Nizams of Hyderabad State as late as the second half of the 20th century. 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

4512-541: The scythe , and the knife ) and one weapon, the spear . In the words of the arms expert Ewart Oakeshott , Staff-weapons in Medieval or Renaissance England were lumped together under the generic term "staves" but when dealing with them in detail we are faced with terminological difficulty. There never seems to have been a clear definition of what was what; there were apparently far fewer staff-weapons in use than there were names to call them by; and contemporary writers up to

4608-499: The 14th centuries. The design consists of a curved blade put atop a 6-to-7-foot-long (1.8 to 2.1 m) pole. The blade bears a moderate to strong curve along its length; however, unlike a bill or guisarme , the cutting edge is on the convex side. A guisarme (sometimes gisarme , giserne or bisarme ) is a polearm used in Europe primarily between 1000 and 1400. It was used primarily to dismount knights and horsemen. Like most polearms it

4704-572: The 16th century and was popular weapon of choice in the Maratha Empire . Variations of the barcha is the hand-like Karpa Barcha and the serpent-like Nagni Barcha . Another variant included the Ballam , a javelin effective at bringing down infantry and cavalry at a distance. Nagni Barcha is identified as the weapon used by the Sikh warrior Bhai Bachittar Singh to kill a drunken Mughal war elephant at

4800-608: 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

4896-546: The Aztecs preferred the sword-like macuahuitl clubs for fighting, the advantage of a far-reaching thrusting weapon was recognised, and a large portion of the army would carry the tepoztopilli into battle. The tepoztopilli was a polearm, and to judge from depictions in various Aztec codices, it was roughly the height of a man, with a broad wooden head about twice the length of the users' palm or shorter, edged with razor-sharp obsidian blades which were deeply set in grooves carved into

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4992-547: The Danish axe are seen. Described in English as a "sparth" (from the Old Norse sparðr ) or "pale-axe", the weapon featured a larger head with broader blade, the rearward part of the crescent sweeping up to contact (or even be attached to) the haft. In Ireland, this axe was known as a "sparr axe". Originating in either Western Scotland or Ireland, the sparr was widely used by the galloglass . Although sometimes said to derive from

5088-581: The Greek City States from the 7th into the 4th century BC. 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 550 cm (18 ft) in length, by the Macedonians under Phillip of Macedon and Alexander the Great . The pike phalanx, supported by peltasts and cavalry, became

5184-588: 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

5280-448: The Irish for a joist or beam, a more likely definition is as a variant of sparth. Although attempts have been made to suggest that the sparr had a distinctive shaped head, illustrations and surviving weapons show there was considerable variation and the distinctive feature of the weapon was its long haft. A fauchard is a type of polearm which was used in medieval Europe from the 11th through

5376-594: 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

5472-524: 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

5568-454: The Siege of Lohgarh . A corseque has a three-bladed head on a 6–8 ft (1.8–2.4 m) haft which, like the partisan , is similar to the winged spear or spetum in the later Middle Ages. It was popular in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Surviving examples have a variety of head forms but there are two main variants, one with the side blades (known as flukes or wings) branching from

5664-403: 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 180–240 cm (6–8 ft) would seem to have been the average length. Some nations were noted for their long spears, including

5760-753: 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,

5856-515: The barbarian invasions were often conducted by people with a developed culture of cavalry in warfare. 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

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5952-438: The basic form. In the 14th century, the basic long axe gained an armour-piercing spike on the back and another on the end of the haft for thrusting. This is similar to the pollaxe of 15th century. The poleaxe emerged in response to the need for a weapon that could penetrate plate armour and featured various combinations of an axe-blade, a back-spike and a hammer. It was the favoured weapon for men-at-arms fighting on foot into

6048-445: The battlefield and often replaced with nagamaki and katana . From the Edo period , naginata has been recognized as a martial art practiced by women in the samurai class. A yari (やり or 槍) is a Japanese polearm that was traditionally used by members of the samurai class. There are various types of yari, which have different names depending on the shape of the blade attached to the end of

6144-410: 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. Muslim warriors used

6240-414: 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

6336-420: The blade. Eventually weapon makers incorporated the usefulness of the hook in a variety of different polearms and guisarme became a catch-all for any weapon that included a hook on the blade. Ewart Oakeshott has proposed an alternative description of the weapon as a crescent shaped socketed axe. A glaive is a polearm consisting of a single-edged tapering blade similar in shape to a modern kitchen knife on

6432-428: The cliff. Other hunters would be waiting at the bottom of the cliff to spear the animal to death. One of the earliest forms of killing prey for humans, hunting game with a spear and spear fishing continues to this day as both a means of catching food and as a cultural activity. Some of the most common prey for early humans were megafauna such as mammoths which were hunted with various kinds of spear. One theory for

6528-500: The decline of chariot warfare, the use of the dagger-axe was almost nonexistent. The ji (Chinese: 戟) was created by combining the dagger-axe with a spear. It was used as a military weapon at least as early as the Shang dynasty until the end of the Northern and Southern dynasties . The ngao or ngau (ง้าว,ของ้าว) is a Thai polearm that was traditionally used by elephant-riding infantry and

6624-487: The differences are between the Mao and the Qiang . 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 300 cm (10 ft), 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

6720-400: The dominant mode of warfare among the Greeks from the late 4th century onward until Greek military systems were supplanted by the Roman legions. 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

6816-402: The end of a pole. The blade was around 18 inches (46 cm) long, on the end of a pole 6 or 7 feet (180 or 210 centimetres) long. However, instead of having a tang like a sword or naginata, the blade is affixed in a socket-shaft configuration similar to an axe head, both the blade and shaft varying in length. Illustrations in the 13th century Maciejowski Bible show a short staffed weapon with

6912-438: The end of the 16th century. Spears began to lose fashion among the infantry during the 14th century, being replaced by polearms 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 spears were originally

7008-562: The head, and cemented in place with bitumen or plant resin as an adhesive. The tepoztopilli was able both to thrust and slash effectively. Throwing spears also were used extensively in Meso-American warfare, usually with the help of an atlatl . Throwing spears were typically shorter and more stream-lined than the tepoztopilli, and some had obsidian edges for greater penetration. Typically, most spears made by Native Americans were created from materials surrounding their communities. Usually,

7104-462: 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

7200-740: The influx of a new population brought innovations around bronze technology. Unlike other cultures who wielded spears at this time, the Egyptians did not treat their javelins (around 1 meter to 3.3 feet long) as disposable, using them both for thrusting and throwing. As advanced metallurgy was largely unknown in pre-Columbian America outside of Western Mexico and South America , most weapons in Meso-America were made of wood or obsidian . This did not mean that they were less lethal, as obsidian may be sharpened to become many times sharper than steel. Meso-American spears varied greatly in shape and size. While

7296-438: The late Han Era and was supposedly used by the late Eastern Han dynasty general Guan Yu , but archaeological findings have shown that Han dynasty armies generally used straight, single-edged blades, and curved blades came several centuries later. There is no reason to believe their polearms had curved blades on them. Besides, historical accounts of the Three Kingdoms era describe Guan Yu thrusting his opponents down (probably with

7392-399: The length of one zhang (approximately 320 cm or 10 ft), 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

7488-458: The military in Korea with various modifications made over the decades. Unlike the Chinese with the guan dao, the Koreans found the woldo unwieldy on horseback, and thus, it was specifically tailored to the needs of infantrymen. The Joseon government implemented rigorous training regimens requiring soldiers to be proficient with swordsmanship, and the use of the woldo. Though it was never widely used as

7584-531: 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 150 cm (5 ft) to make it more manageable. As dismounting became commonplace, specialist polearms such as

7680-486: The neck of the central blade at 45 degrees, the other with hooked blades curving back towards the haft. The corseque is usually associated with the rawcon , ranseur and runka . Another possible association is with the "three-grayned staff" listed as being in the armoury of Henry VIII in 1547 (though the same list also features 84 rawcons, suggesting the weapons were not identical in 16th century English eyes). Another modern term used for particularly ornate-bladed corseques

7776-614: The opponent and to some extent effective to penetrate armour. The Renaissance saw a plethora of varieties. Polearms in modern times are largely constrained to ceremonial military units such as the Papal Swiss Guard or Yeomen of the Guard , or traditional martial arts . Chinese martial arts in particular have preserved a wide variety of weapons and techniques. The classification of polearms can be difficult, and European weapon classifications in particular can be confusing. This can be due to

7872-489: The opponent. The way the side blades were fixed to the shaft differs, but usually there were empty spaces between the pole and the side blade. The wielder could strike with the shaft, with the option of then pulling the weapon back to hook with a side blade; or, he could slap his opponent with the flat side of the blade to knock him off his horse. The Barcha is a type of lance with a wooden handle, once common in South Asia in

7968-517: The other hand, ashigaru infantries used long yari (similar with European pike ) for their massed combat formation. 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

8064-414: 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) In combination with a lance rest , this allowed all

8160-427: The seventeenth century use these names with abandon, calling different weapons by the same name and similar weapons by different names. To add to this, we have various nineteenth century terminologies used by scholars. We must remember too that any particular weapon ... had everywhere a different name. While men-at-arms may have been armed with custom designed military weapons, militias were often armed with whatever

8256-425: The shaft of the spear was made with a wooden stick while the head of the spear was fashioned from arrowheads, pieces of metal such as copper, or a bone that had been sharpened. Spears were a preferred weapon by many since it was inexpensive to create, could more easily be taught to others, and could be made quickly and in large quantities. Native Americans used the buffalo pound method to kill buffalo, which required

8352-467: The sixteenth century. Spear A spear is a polearm 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 , copper , bronze , iron , or steel . The most common design for hunting and/or warfare, since ancient times has incorporated

8448-464: 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

8544-723: The weapons to hunt galagos sleeping in hollows. The Clacton Spear found in England and the Schöningen spears found in present-day Germany document that wooden spears have been used for hunting since at least 400,000 years ago. 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,

8640-466: The wooden shaft. For example, 'Jumonji yari' refers to a yari with a cross-shaped blade, and 'Sasaho yari' refers to a yari with a blade shaped like a sasa leaf. During the Sengoku period , a large group of ashigaru in a formation used yari as one of their main weapons and exerted tremendous power on the battlefield. Honda Tadakatsu a vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu , had gained a reputation as a master of one of

8736-653: Was available. These may or may not have been mounted on poles and described by one of more names. The problems with precise definitions can be inferred by a contemporary description of Royalist infantry which were engaged in the Battle of Birmingham (1643) during the first year of English Civil War (in the early modern period). The infantry regiment that accompanied Prince Rupert's cavalry were armed: with pikes , half-pikes , halberds , hedge-bills , Welsh hooks , clubs, pitchforks, with chopping-knives, and pieces of scythes. The dagger-axe (Chinese: 戈; pinyin: gē; Wade–Giles: ko; sometimes confusingly translated "halberd")

8832-406: Was developed by peasants by combining hand tools with long poles, in this case by putting a pruning hook onto a spear shaft. While hooks are fine for dismounting horsemen from mounts, they lack the stopping power of a spear especially when dealing with static opponents. While early designs were simply a hook on the end of a long pole, later designs implemented a small reverse spike on the back of

8928-422: Was subsequently killed. The various types of the assegai (a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron or fire-hardened tip) were used throughout Africa and it was the most common weapon used before the introduction of firearms . The Zulu , Xhosa and other Nguni tribes of South Africa were renowned for their use of the assegai. Shaka of the Zulu invented a shorter stabbing spear with

9024-514: 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

9120-516: Was typically used with one hand while the off hand held a cowhide shield for protection. Similar to most armies of their period, Ancient Egyptian forces were centered around the use of the spear. In battle, spearmen would be armed with a bronze -tipped spear (dja) and shield (ikem), which were used in elaborate formations much like Greek and Roman forces. Before the Hyksos invasion into Egypt, wooden spears were used, which were prone to splinter, but

9216-424: Was used to range attack enemy formations before closing in for close quarters battle with the iklwa. This tactical combination originated during Shaka's military reforms . This weapon was typically used with one hand while the off hand held a cowhide shield for protection. It is also the name of a southern African tree ( Curtisia dentata ) whose wood was suitable for making spears or lances, most notably by

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