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Length of Celtic Spear Shaft in First Century AD
#1
Hi All......I am trying to put a 1st Century AD Celtic Spear(Britain) together anfd I had two questions:

1. What was the length of the shaft ?
2. What wood (in Britain) would the shaft most commonly be made out of at that time and where is a good place to get it here in the US?


Thank you, Mike
Michael T. Boyd
Victoria, Texas
Cohort V
Legio Hispana IX
Cornuti Seniores

Roman Soldier Impressions are focused on 1st Through 4th Century AD
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#2
7 foot ash shaft seems popular. 9 feet would be ok to I imagine, if the shaft was tapered.
I tried one someone made and it was almost perfect.
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
Titus Flavius Germanus
Batavian Coh I
Byron Angel
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#3
Thanks for the quick response, Mike
Michael T. Boyd
Victoria, Texas
Cohort V
Legio Hispana IX
Cornuti Seniores

Roman Soldier Impressions are focused on 1st Through 4th Century AD
Reply
#4
Ash is the usual spear shaft material, American White Ash works just fine. The spear shaft length is really determined by your physique, but usually works out between 7 and 8 feet. if you want to be more precise, stand with the spear verical, butt on the ground and the shaft tucked into your shoulder, reach up and find the point on the shaft at which you are at full extent, add space equivalent to two hands width and you have a weapon of "perfect length" i.e. the longest one you can fight with properly.
pmel018
Philip melhop
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#5
I really think that what have been written is sufficient.
I can only add that for the Gallic lancea (DBG, VIII, 48 5) of the final periods of the La Tène, the length of the shaft  cannot be exactly reconstructed (as has been said it is really depends on your physique).
Nevertheless, the experimentations of Franck Mathieu* have shown that, for an optimal use with a single hand, the length of the spear must not overcome 3 metres (8 feet).
Best
SM

*Mathieu, F., 2007, L'apport des tests expérimentaux à l'étude de l'armement gaulois du IIIe s. av. J.-C., Bulletin Instrumentum, no. 25, p. 10-14.
--------
SM.

ὁπλῖται δὲ ἀγαθοὶ καὶ ἀκροβολισταί (Strabo,IV, 6, 2)
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