Ancient Greek Bronze Socketed Spearhead 14cm Hellenistic Hoplite Weapon Relic For Sale

Ancient Greek Hellenistic Bronze Socketed Spearhead (~14 cm)

Authenticity & Guarantee

• Provenance: Ex-private European collection, legally acquired from international sales; Hellenistic Mediterranean / Classical Greek sphere.

Item Specifications

• Object: Cast Bronze Socketed Spearhead / Javelin Tip / Lance Point

• Culture / Period: Hellenistic Greek / Classical Period

• Date Range: Circa 4th Century BC – 2nd Century BC (c. 330 BC – 146 BC)

• Dimensions: ~12.5 cm – 14.0 cm length (Heavy Cast Blade and Hollow Socket)

• Material: Heavy Cast Bronze (Copper Alloy)

• Form & Architecture: Tapering leaf-shaped (foliate) double-edged blade featuring a high-relief central structural midrib running down to a hollow conical mounting socket engineered to receive a wooden haft; socket base hollowed to receive a wooden shaft pin

• Condition: Exceptional, complete archaeological state. Intact blade profile, unbroken socket ring, preserved under a rich, authentic dusty-blue to malachite-green cuprite patina with sandy desert burial encrustations.

Historical Context & Hellenistic Warfare Lore

Armaments of the Hellenistic Phalanx & Hoplite Class

During the Classical and Hellenistic periods (c. 4th–2nd century BC), socketed bronze spearheads (dory / xyston tips) were the primary offensive weapons carried by Greek heavy infantry (hoplites) and Macedonian cavalry. Engineered for maximum armor penetration, these cast bronze blades featured reinforced raised midribs that absorbed the massive impact force of a spear thrust against bronze shields (aspides) and iron breastplates (Ref: Snodgrass, Arms and Armor of the Greeks, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998; Connolly, Greece and Rome at War, Greenhill Books, 1998).

Conical Socket Metallurgy

The hollow conical socket at the base was cast using investment piece-molds. Once cast, the weapon smith fitted a tapered ash-wood shaft into the socket, securing it with resin or a cross-pin to ensure the blade would not detach during heavy combat or phalanx maneuvers.

Typological Analysis & Exact Classification

Exact Typological Classification

• Primary Class: Ancient Greek Socketed Bronze Spearhead

• Sub-Class: Hellenistic Leaf-Blade Midrib Type

Comparable Archaeological Examples & Museum Accession Numbers

• British Museum (Accession No. 1868,0620.37): Classical Greek / Hellenistic socketed bronze spearhead with central midrib.

• Metropolitan Museum of Art (Accession No. 96.18.52): 4th–3rd century BC Greek bronze leaf-shaped spearhead.

• Ashmolean Museum (Accession No. AN1967.828): Hellenistic bronze lance point from the Eastern Mediterranean.

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