Broad, leaf shaped spearhead with flat hammered blades and strong triangular mid-rib.
Strong tang with hook tail hammered into a rivet head shape. One blade bears signs of bend damage. Early Cypriot Hook-Tanged Bronze Spearhead
Object: Hook-Tanged Spearhead (Catling Type A). Culture/Origin: Cypriot. Date: Early Bronze Age (Philia Facies to Early Cypriot I-II, circa 2450–2000 BCE).
Material: Copper Alloy (Likely Arsenical Copper). This remarkably preserved artifact is a broad, leaf-shaped spearhead featuring flat, aggressively hammered blades bisected by a prominent, thick triangular mid-rib. The tang is square in cross-section and intentionally rotated 45 degrees relative to the blade. It terminates in a distinct hooked tail that has been expertly forged into a button or rivet-head shape. One side of the blade exhibits distinct bend damage.
Based on established typological frameworks, this artifact is definitively classified as a Catling Type A hook-tang weapon. The presence of the heavy, square-sectioned tang and the distinct button/rivet-head terminal are primary diagnostic features of the earliest metallurgical horizons in Bronze Age Cyprus, specifically the Philia facies through the Early Cypriot I-II periods. As these weapons evolved into the later Middle Cypriot period, smiths generally abandoned the heavy button-head in favor of a simpler, tapering "rat-tail" hook and thinner tangs with round cross-sections. Despite its impressive 304 mm scale, the weapon weighs only 184 g. This was achieved by hammering the blade edges to a delicate 1 mm thickness while retaining the massive 10 mm mid-rib for longitudinal rigidity against compressive forces. The button-head terminal served as a mechanical stop against the bindings, preventing the blade from being pulled out of the wooden shaft during extraction.
