IRON AGE LA TENE RITUALLY BENT SPEARS (2)

C. 450-1 BC. La Tene culture. A set of two iron leaf shaped spearheads with raised midribs. Each of these items has been ritually bent. Iron weapons were an important part of La Tene culture, often appearing in warrior’s graves. The ritual bending of such weapons was a way to consign these valuable weapons to the graves or dedicate them in religious ritual. Weapons such as this sword served as powerful reminders that authority rested in the hands of those who could earn it. For more information about ritually bent spears see Ivan Drni? 2015, La Tène spearheads from south-eastern Pannonia and the northern Balkans: typology, chronology, ritual, and social context. Good condition. Size: L:200mm / W:230mm ; 497g. Provenance: Property of a professional London art expert; obtained from an old British collection formed in the 1980s.