Figure 1. Examples of the Greek 'Sauroter'	Figure 2. Spear butt from Sardis

The spear butt has been used since Ancient times. The Greek term for a spear butt was 'sauroter' which was proportional to the length of the head of the spear but was normally shorter (see figure 1.).

An extant conical spear butt from Sardis (Turkey ?) from the 6th century B.C. was made from a sheet of iron, it had a length of 7.7 cm and a diameter at the aperture for the shaft was 1.5cm (see figure 2).

The design of spear butt which appears the most often is a cone which would have been shaped from sheet metal. The only other different spear butt design from the Medieval period is from a late 10th - early 11th century Byzantine ship wreck¹ . This supposed spear butt appears to have a central spike flanked by two smaller lobes and the base consists of a ring surrounding the base which I suspect was used to attach it to the shaft (see figure 3.).

So far I have only found one example of a spear butt from Medieval Europe, its from a 9th century warriors grave in a pagan cemetery at Kilmainhan - Islandbridge outside Dublin. The spear buutt is the typical conical design and is approximately 10cm long and 2cm wide at the aperture for the spear (see figure 4.).
 

Figure 3. Spear butt  from Byzantine shipwreck.	Figure 4. The spear butt from Kilmanihan - Islandbridge outside Dublin.

Graham-Campbell, J.,The Viking World, 1980.
Nicolle, D., Saladin and the Saracens, 1987.
Tarssuk, L.& Blair, C., The Complete Encyclopedia of Armour and Weapons, 1982.
Waldbaum, J. C., Metalwork from Sardis, 1983.

¹ Nicolle fails to note any further information about this Byzantine shipwreck. The shipwreck is in fact the Serçe Liman1, an 11th Century Byzantine Shipwreck (excavated by the Institute for Nautical Archaeology, University of Texas.

Serçe Liman1, an 11th Century Byzantine Shipwreck (excavated by the Institute for Nautical Archaeology, University of Texas (picture of an extant spear butt)

Spearbutt - An Addenda

UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, THE SHEFTON MUSEUM OF GREEK ART AND
ARCHAEOLOGY. Arms and Armour: Classical and Hellenistic Weapons (picture and description of an extant spear butt)

A SPECIALIST COLLECTION OF ROMAN IRON TOOLS

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