Help Identifying a Roman Era Weapon

[Jerry Davis]

Hi,

I'm trying to do some research on a museum artifact which is categorized as being from the Roman era. It's the head of a weapon and I'd like to correctly identify what type of weapon it is as well as provide some context associated with it like estimated time range, associated culture, region, etc. The museum does not have much contextual information about the artifact since it was purchased in the early 20th century to be a part of their collection so it didn't come with any knowledge of where it was found.

I'm hoping that those of you who are much more knowledgeable of Roman era weaponry will be able to categorize the artifact. I don't want to bias your opinion on the matter though so beyond some images I won't include the additional information the museum has on the artifact. Specifically I'd appreciate your opinions on:

Type of Weapon:
Use of Weapon:
Type of Metal:
Associated Culture:
Estimated Time Range of Usage:
Likely Region Where Used:
Likely Units to Have Used It:

Anybody that can provide some references to archaeological typologies of Roman era weaponry that I could use for further research would be very helpful. I've spent a couple days trying to find published typologies from the pre-Internet era when information used to be passed around via books and journals and haven't really found much to date. There have to be typologies that were used in the past but my searching hasn't been producing much.

Edited to add dimensions and weight since the images can be deceptive:

It is 19.2 cm (7.5 in) long by 1.3 cm (0.5 in) wide and 0.3 cm (0.1 in) thick. It also weighs 36.9 g (1.3 oz).

Image 1:


Image 2:



Thanks,

Jerry Davis