The Spear: An Effective Weapon Since Antiquity

Authors

  • Robert E. Dohrenwend Independent researcher

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18002/rama.v2i2.298

Abstract

The spear is perhaps man’s oldest weapon, and may even be his oldest tool. Over the hundreds of thousands of years of the weapon’s existence, it evolved from a pointed stick into an efficient hunting missile, and then became the most effective hand-held bladed weapon humans ever devised. The spear and its use is the only martial art originally devised for use against species other than our own, and more than any other weapon, the spear emphasizes the relationship between hunting and warfare. Virtually without exception, the spear is present wherever there are humans. The spear may claim to be the senior martial art, and the weapon is still in use today. Early techniques are preserved by the small number of Japanese sojutsu schools, and modern Chinese martial artists have developed elegant and impressive gymnastic routines for the spear. The javelin throw is a modern Olympic track and field event, and there are people who have resurrected the Aztec atlatl for sporting competition. Today, the spear is still used in Europe for hunting wild boar, and the continued issue of the obsolete bayonet to modern soldiers testifies to a deep, almost instinctive respect still possessed by the military for the spear.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Métricas alternativas

References

AKELEY, C. (1923). In brightest Africa. Garden City. NY: Doubleday.

ANDERSON, J. (1985). Hunting in the ancient world. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

ASMOLOV, K. (1993). Istoria Kholodnogo Oruzhiye (History of Cold Steel): The East and the Occident: Part I. Quinto libro de la serie: Taünia Voinskikh Iskusstv (Secret Fighting Arts). Moscow. Publicado por el Medical and Scientific Information Center “National Health” y la “Choy Dao” International Association of Fighting Arts. Section: “Vlastelin Vsego Oruzhiye” (Master of All Weapons): 110-137.

BISE, G. (1984). The hunting book, por Gaston Phoebus. (J. Peter Tallon, Trans.). London: Regent Books/Hightext.

BICKERSTAFF, I. (1999). The heritage of the longbow. Edición privada publicada en Gran Bretaña.

BLACKMORE, H. (1971). Hunting weapons. New York: Walker & Company.

BODDINGTON, C. (2002). The perfect shot, North America: Shot placement for North American big game. Long Beach, CA: Safari Press.

BRAMBLE, D., & LIEBERMAN, D. (18 Noviembre 2004). Endurance running and the evoltution of homo. Nature, 432(7015): 345.

BRENTJES, B. (1996). Arms of the sakas. Varanasi, India: Rishi Publications.

BRUHN DE HOFFMEYER, A. (1972). Arms & armour in Spain, A short survey. The bronze age to the end of the high middle ages, Vol I. Instituto de Estudios Sobre Armas Antiguas. Madrid.

BRUHN DE HOFFMEYER, A. (1982). Arms & armour in Spain, A short survey. Vol II. From the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 15th century. Instituto de Estudios Sobre Armas Antiguas. Madrid.

CARAS, R. (1964). Dangerous to man. New York: Chilton.

CARRIER, D. (1984). The energetic paradox of human running and hominid evolution. Current Anthropology, 25(4): 483-495.

COLES, J. (1973). Archeology by experiment. New York: Scribners.

COON, C. (1971). The hunting ppeoples. Boston: Atlantic-Little-Brown.

CUMMINS, J. (1988). The hound and the hawk: The art of medieval hunting. New York: St. Martins.

DENNELL, R. (27 Feb. 1997). The world’s oldest spears. Nature, 385(6619): 767-768.

DIXON, E. (1999). Bones, boats, & bison. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

DENNELL, R. & ROEBROEKS, W. (29 Diciembre 2005). An Asian perspective on early human dispersal from Africa. Nature, 438(7070): 1099-1104.

DRAEGER, D. & SMITH, R. (1980). Comprehensive Asian aighting arts. Tokyo: Kodansha. Páginas 109-113 Japan; 151-152 India; 174-175 Malaya; 185-186 Philippines.

ELGOOD, R. (1994). The arms and armour of Arabia. Aldershot: Scolar Press.

ELLEHAUGE, M. (1948). The spear: Traced through its post-Roman development. Copenhagen: Tøjhusmuseets Skrifter 5. N. Olaf Møller.

FERRILL, A. (1985). The origins of war: From the stone age to Alexander the Great. New York: Thames and Hudson.

FILIPIAK, K. (2001). Die Chinesische kampfkunst. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitatsverlag.

FINDLAYSON, ET AL. (19 Octubre 2006). Late survival of the Neanderthals at the southernmost extreme of Europe. Nature, 443(7113): 850-853.

FRISON, G. (2004). Survival by hunting. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

FROISSART. J. (1901). Chronicles. (T. Johnes, Trad.). London: Colonial Press.

GABRIEL, R., & METZ, K. (1991). From Sumer to Rome: The Military capabilities of ancient armies. New York: Greenwood Press.

GRIFFITH, P. (1995). The Viking art of war. London: Greenhill.

HANSON, V. (1989). The Western way of war. Berkeley, CA: California University Press.

HUNG, TINGSENG (2004). Mi Zu Men six harmony spear. DVD. Realizado en China por Tsunami Productions.

HUNTER, J. (1952). Hunter. New York: Harper & Brothers.

JAMEISON, P. (1994). Crossing the deadly ground. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.

KAUFFMAN, S. (Noviembre 2006). The evolution of future wealth. Scientific American, 295(5): 44.

KENNEDY, B., & GUO, E. (2006) Jack Dempsey: Master of xingyiquan. Classical Fighting Arts, 10: 31-36

KIZU. (1990). Japanese spears. Hollywood, CA: Hawley Publications.

KNECHT, H. (1997). Projectile technology. (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archeology). New York: Plenum Publishing.

KNUTSEN, R., & Knutsen, P. (2004). Japanese spears. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i Press.

KURTEN, B., & ANDERSON, E. (1987). Pleistocene mammals of North America. New York: Columbia University Press.

LEBEDYNSKY, I. (1990). Les armes cosaques et caucasiens. La Tour Du Pin, France: Editions du Portail.

LEBEDYNSKY, I. (1992). Les armes orientales. La Tour Du Pin, France: Editions du Portail.

MACAULAY, V., ET. AL. (13 de mayo de 2005). Single, rapid coastal settlement of Asia revealed by analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes. Science, 30(5724): 1034-1036.

MAILS, T. (1972). Mystic warriors of the great plains. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.

MANFRED, F. (1954). Lord Grizzly. New York: McGraw-Hill.

MANNIX, D. (1978). The wolves of Paris. New York: Dutton. (Avon edition - 1979)

MARSHALL, E. (1957). Shikar and safari: Jungle hunting thrills. New York: Dell.

MASON, O. (2002). Aboriginal American harpoons: A study in ethnic distribution and invention. (reproduction of Smithsonian Edition, 1900). Honolulu, HI: University Press of the Pacific.

MCGHEE, R. (1996). Ancient people of the arctic. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press.

MORGAN, E. (1990). The scars of evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

MORRIS, D. (1965). The washing of the spears. New York: Simon and Schuster.

MORRIS, E. (2003). Hunting with spears. St. Cloud, MN: MK Publishing.

POORTVLEIT, R. (1994). Journey to the ice age. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

POPE, S. (1926). The adventurous bowmen. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

QIU, PIXIANG (1999). Basic spear play (Chinese Wushu Series). Beijing: Foreign Language Press.

SIEMEL, S. (1953). Tigrero! New York: Prentice Hall.

SKENNERTON, I. (1994). British service sword and lance patterns. Edición privada publicada en Australia.

Stone, G. (1934). A glossary of the construction, decoration and use of arms and armor. New York: Jack Brussel. Reprint 1961.

THIEME, H. (27 February 1997). Lower paleolithic hunting spears from Germany. Nature, 385(6619): 807-810.

UNDERWOOD, R. (1999). Anglo-Saxon weapons and warfare. Stroud UK: Tempus.

WAGNER, E. (1979). European weapons and warfare. London: Octopus/Mayflower.

WHITE, S. (1979). Lions in the path. Prescott, AZ: Wolfe Publishing. 1987 (1926).

YANG, J. (1999). Ancient Chinese weapons. Boston: YMAA.

ZYGULSKI, JR., ZDZISLAW (1975). Bron w dawnej Polski. Warsaw, Poland: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.

Published

2012-07-18

How to Cite

Dohrenwend, R. E. (2012). The Spear: An Effective Weapon Since Antiquity. Revista de Artes Marciales Asiáticas, 2(2), 8–35. https://doi.org/10.18002/rama.v2i2.298

Issue

Section

Articles