Four Scythian arrow heads
€240
available
Object number
AR3369-04
| 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. Two with three cutting edges and triangular cross-section, one with two cutting edges and one unwinged specimen. All 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: |
19mm to 57mm long.
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| Condition: |
Generally good condition, but some damages, missing parts and deformations.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us on the German art market in 2022. Previously in a German private collection. Acquired into the collection between 1980 and 1985.
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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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