Spear facts for kids
A spear is a long weapon with a sharp point. People have used spears for thousands of years, both for hunting and for fighting. Its main purpose is to stab or thrust into something. Some spears can also be used to slash, but stabbing is more common. Certain types of spears were even made to be thrown, like a javelin.
A lance is a special kind of spear that knights used while riding horses in medieval times. A pike is a very long spear used by foot soldiers to fight against horsemen.
The spear has been important throughout human history. It was one of the first and most useful tools developed by early humans, along with the axe, knife, and club. As a weapon, you can hold it with one hand or two. Spears were used in almost every conflict until modern times. Even today, you can see a form of the spear in a bayonet, which is a blade attached to a rifle. It's probably the most common weapon ever used in history.
Where Spears Came From
Did you know that not only humans use spears? Western chimpanzees have also been seen making and using them! In Senegal, chimpanzees break straight branches from trees, strip off the bark, and sharpen one end with their teeth. They then use these homemade spears to hunt small animals called galagos that sleep in tree hollows. This shows how clever animals can be!
Spears in Ancient Times
Scientists have found proof in Germany that wooden spears were used for hunting at least 400,000 years ago. A study from South Africa suggests that early humans, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, might have attached stone tips to spears about 500,000 years ago. Wood doesn't last long, so finding old wooden spears is rare. However, because chimpanzees use them, some experts think early humans might have used wooden spears as far back as five million years ago.
Neanderthals started making spearheads from stone around 300,000 years ago. By 250,000 years ago, they were making wooden spears with points hardened by fire. This made the tips stronger and sharper.
Around 200,000 BCE, people in the Middle Paleolithic period began making more complex stone blades. They would chip away at the stone to create sharp edges for spearheads. These stone heads could be attached to the spear shaft using sticky tree sap or resin. They also used bindings made from animal tendons, leather strips, or plant fibers. During this time, there was a clear difference between spears made for throwing and those made for hand-to-hand fighting. By the Magdalenian period (around 15,000–9500 BCE), people were even using tools similar to the later atlatl to throw spears with more power and distance.
-
Arrowheads and spearheads as they were common in antiquity
Images for kids
-
Spear-armed hoplite from Greco-Persian Wars
-
Sumerian spearmen advancing in close formation with large shields – Stele of the Vultures, c.2450 BCE
-
Athenian warrior wielding a spear in battle
-
Re-enactor outfitted as a Late Roman legionary carrying a pilum
-
Assyrian soldier holding a spear and wearing a helmet. Detail of a basalt relief from the palace of Tiglath-pileser III at Hadatu, Syria. 744–727 BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul
-
German reenactors of pikemen
-
Spear with inscription, Zhou dynasty
-
Shang Dynasty spear heads
-
A bronze spear, notice the ears on the side of the socket.
-
A later period qiang
-
Razakars during Operation Polo
-
Engraving of a Maratha soldier with spear by James Forbes, 1813.
-
Ukiyo-e print of a samurai general holding a yari in his right hand
-
A Filipino warrior holding a Sibat (spear) in the Boxer Codex.
-
Zulu man with iklwa, 1917
-
A photograph of an American native, a Hupa man with his spear – by Edward Sheriff Curtis, dated 1923
-
Spear Case, Crow (Native American), late 19th century, Brooklyn Museum
-
A boar-spear with a bar
See also
In Spanish: Lanza para niños
