Spear

Two Maasai men demonstrating how to throw their spears.

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 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.

Crafting instructions

Pole spear

Sharpen the spear with a rough surface, including a stone. The spear can also be sharpened against surfaces such as a wall's or a sidewalk. Carve a pointed tip for your spear with a tool, such as a knife or a small hand-axe, and carefully fashion a point on one end of the pole or branch. Use small and even strokes to carve the tip, cutting away from oneself always to avoid injury. Even with a sharp knife, the process can be time consuming and physically demanding.

See also

• Axe
• Knife
• Sword
• Weapons

References

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Spear, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).

External links

• Spear Thrower - primitivetechnology.wordpress.com, 7 October 2016
• Primitive Technology: Spear Thrower - Primitive Technology, 7 October 2016, YouTube