Scythian Bronze Arrowhead - 700 BC - East Europe

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PLEASE READ: Our shipment of small display boxes has been delayed. Small display boxes are currently out of stock and are expected to arrive around October 1st. You can still pre-o rder items that include a small display box. These items will not ship until the display boxes arrive. Pre-orders receive $5 off each delayed item. In-stock items in the same order will ship immediately as usual. This bronze arrowhead design was developed by the Scythians, a group of nomadic warriors on horseback who lived in what is now Siberia. Many other groups ended up adapting this design too—Greeks and Romans both used this kind of arrowhead as well. The arrowheads featured in this listing were found in the Eastern Mediterranean region, though it is impossible to attribute them to a particular culture. Bronze became the most common material for arrowheads around 2000 BCE, replacing the cruder stone ones of the Neolithic Age. It was sturdy, easy to cast, and held a very sharp edge. Though cheaper iron arrow tips began to develop over the next few hundred years as well, bronze still held its ground well into the beginning of the Medieval period. Scythian bronze arrowheads came in many different forms. Some were flat, having one blade on each side, while others were three sided. The cruder ones were simply triangle or pyramid shaped, but the more complex ones were barbed—making the arrows nearly impossible to remove without immense pain and tissue damage. Even into medieval times, archery remained a staple of warfare for centuries. Only in the 16th century did it finally become obsolete in Europe, due to the advancement of early firearms. Show more