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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What were weapons originally made of?
- Weapons were originally made of wood and stone.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.
Add External Link
External Links
10 Oldest Swords Ever Discovered - Oldest.org
www.oldest.org
World's Oldest Spears - Archaeology Magazine Archive
archive.archaeology.org
