Spearheads and Angons from Sutton Hoo
Spearheads and angons from the ship-burial mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England, early 600s.
The burial chamber at Sutton Hoo contained 6 spearheads of different shapes and 3 angons (barbed lances), all of iron. Spears are the most common weapons found in Anglo-Saxon graves, but the number and variety here are unparalleled. The rare angons of Frankish origin demonstrate links with the Franks on the Continent. Each weapon originally had a long wooden shaft. Spears were used for thrusting while angons were thrown.
The British Museum, London.
Questions & Answers
What are the oldest weapons in the world?
- The oldest weapons in the world are spears, specifically the spears found in Schöningen, Germany in 1995 dated to c. 400,000 BCE
What were weapons originally made of?
- Weapons were originally made of wood and stone.
What is the oldest gun in the world?
- The oldest firearm found to date is the Heilongjiang Hand Cannon from China, dated to c. 1288.
What are the oldest swords in the world?
- The oldest swords in the world were discovered only in the 1980s at Arslantepe Mound in Turkey and date to c. 3300 BCE.
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External Links
10 Oldest Swords Ever Discovered - Oldest.org
www.oldest.org
World's Oldest Spears - Archaeology Magazine Archive
archive.archaeology.org
