Spear butt of bronze

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A spear butt, also known as a ferrule, is a metal fitting placed over the end of a wooden shaft to protect it. This bronze example was found at Leetside in Berwickshire. It is of Continental type and was probably imported from central Europe.

Conical bronze ferrule for a spear shaft, Hallstatt type, from Leetside, Berwickshire

Contacts across the North Sea, which had flourished during the 2nd millennium BC, continued into the 1st. This spear butt would have been a prestigious and fashionable import.

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• Online ID: 000-100-034-332-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.DG 55
• Date: Between 750 and 450 BC
  
• Material: Bronze; with rivet hole near broad end
  Ferrule
  
• Dimensions: 7.63" L x 1.00" across mouth
  
• What: Ferrule
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Berwickshire, Leetside
  
• Event:
• Description:
• References:
  • Coles, John M. Scottish late Bronze Age metalwork: typology, distributions and chronology. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 93 (1959-1960), pp 16-134, esp. pp 24, 86. 
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