Four Scythian arrow heads
Price: on request
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Object number
AR3322-24
| Object: |
Four Scythian arrow heads
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| Material: |
Massive bronze, lost wax casting production method.
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| Period: |
Approx. 7th to 3rd century BC. Archaic period to Classical Antiquity. Dating based on typology by Cleuziou, see literature below. |
| Description: |
Four excellently preserved arrowheads. All with triangular cross-section and with circular opening for mounting.
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| Background: |
Although such weapons were typically used by Scythians and are therefore commonly referred to as "scythian arrowheads", they were also popular among other tribes and cultures during the 1st Millennium BC. An exact attribution to a specific tribe or culture, as well as an exact dating could therefore only be based on the find context or the stratigraphic data. This is especially so because weapons were commonly re-used in antiquity. After a battle was fought, the valuable metal weapons were collected on the battlefield by the victorious side and used again, sometimes for very long periods of time. Similar arrowheads were e.g. found in Athens, for details see the literature recommended below.
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| Dimensions: |
29mm to 40mm long.
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| Condition: |
Perfect condition. Only minor signs of age and minor chips. Body otherwise fully intact and covered with an attractive green to black patina.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us on the German art market in 2022. Previously in the German Pladeck family collection. Acquired into the collection in the 1960s or earlier, presumably from the art trade.
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| References: |
Cf. M. Comstock & C. Vermeule, Greek, Etruscan & Roman Bronzes in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Boston 1971), nos. 597 to 600.
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| Literature: |
S. Cleuziou, Les Pointes de Flèches „scythiques“ au Proche et Moyen Orient, in: J. Deshayes (Hg.) Le plateau iranien et l’Asie Centrale des origines à la conquête isla-mique. Leurs relations à la lumière des documents archéologiques (Paris 1977), 187-199. For a comprehensive discussion of the so-called "Scythian arrowheads" see the work by J. Pesonen, Die dreiflügeligen Pfeilspitzen vom Tell Halaf, Syrien, Untersuchungen zu den sog. skythischen Pfeilspitzen (Bern 2012). |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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