09-03-2010, 03:49 PM
I have been told that more of these have been found, in context with other Sarissa items.
I am in two minds about the joining theory... I used to disregard it, before talking to Swiss friend, who knows a lot about the evolution of the later pike.
A point he made about pikes, is that trees have to be especially grown to make the shaft. You can't use any old tree. This throws up some interesting points.
One: how tall do the trees in Macedonia grow.
Two: how long would the tree need to be grown in advance before a pike could be made from it?
Given the relatively short time that the Philip revolutionised the phalanx, would the resources be in place already for him to have them constructed? would a new forest of trees have been grown to maturity and cut in time for Alexander’s invasion?
Now, trees were obviously already grown for the construction of Spears, could it be that two 'spear' trees were used for the construction of a Sarissa and joined with the sleeve (and glued with pitch?) to enable an army to be equipped very quickly and using resources already at hand?
If a sarissa was broken, only one end would need to be replaced, with a shaft from a shorter tree.. and not the entire shaft from an older, taller tree. Presumably across Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Iran, and so on, trees were being grown for the construction of short spears. These could be used to supply the army on campaign. It would not be easy to source the wood for a full size sarissa shaft, unless massive amounts were bought on route from Macedonia.
Another thing to think about is whether the two halves could facilitate the multi role phalangite that seem to have existed. Simply, the end with the head could be 'un-glued' used as a spear and re-joined when it needed to be.
Last of all, it is worth reading about how pikes are managed in wooded areas. Troops often cut them short so they could march through forested areas (normally against orders). This is well documented in later periods. I like to wonder, how did they march across the Indian jungle with them?
I am in two minds about the joining theory... I used to disregard it, before talking to Swiss friend, who knows a lot about the evolution of the later pike.
A point he made about pikes, is that trees have to be especially grown to make the shaft. You can't use any old tree. This throws up some interesting points.
One: how tall do the trees in Macedonia grow.
Two: how long would the tree need to be grown in advance before a pike could be made from it?
Given the relatively short time that the Philip revolutionised the phalanx, would the resources be in place already for him to have them constructed? would a new forest of trees have been grown to maturity and cut in time for Alexander’s invasion?
Now, trees were obviously already grown for the construction of Spears, could it be that two 'spear' trees were used for the construction of a Sarissa and joined with the sleeve (and glued with pitch?) to enable an army to be equipped very quickly and using resources already at hand?
If a sarissa was broken, only one end would need to be replaced, with a shaft from a shorter tree.. and not the entire shaft from an older, taller tree. Presumably across Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Iran, and so on, trees were being grown for the construction of short spears. These could be used to supply the army on campaign. It would not be easy to source the wood for a full size sarissa shaft, unless massive amounts were bought on route from Macedonia.
Another thing to think about is whether the two halves could facilitate the multi role phalangite that seem to have existed. Simply, the end with the head could be 'un-glued' used as a spear and re-joined when it needed to be.
Last of all, it is worth reading about how pikes are managed in wooded areas. Troops often cut them short so they could march through forested areas (normally against orders). This is well documented in later periods. I like to wonder, how did they march across the Indian jungle with them?
Stephen May - <a class="postlink" href="http://www.immortalminiatures.com">www.immortalminiatures.com
