Battles & Wars › Prehistory & first cities › Bow and arrow
Spear: the oldest weapon
Clacton spear point c. 400,000 years ago; Schöningen spears c. 200,000 years ago· Invention or discovery· Weapons, armor & warships
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
A pointed shaft for thrusting or throwing, first made by early humans for hunting and later the backbone of armies for thousands of years.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
The oldest surviving spears are wooden. A sharpened yew tip from Clacton, England, is about 400,000 years old. The Schöningen spears from Germany, balanced like javelins, were re-dated in 2025 to about 200,000 years ago (earlier estimates said 300,000). Stone points were fixed to shafts by about 300,000 years ago, perhaps earlier. Cheap, simple and easy to train with, the spear armed most foot soldiers from Sumer to Greek hoplites and medieval militias, until the bayonet replaced the pike around 1700.
Why it matters
The spear was the default infantry weapon for most of history. Massed spearmen, from the phalanx to the Swiss pike square, let ordinary men stand against cavalry.
Think of it like
The spear is the two-by-four of weapons: cheap, standard and used everywhere for nearly every job.
How we know
Wooden spears preserved in waterlogged ground at Clacton and Schöningen, impact damage on stone points, butchered animal bones, and later art, texts and grave goods.
Still debated
When people first threw spears rather than only thrusting them, and how Neanderthals used theirs, is still debated; dates for the earliest stone-tipped spears are disputed.
Inside this (2)
Connections (3)
▸Spear-thrower (atlatl) extended the throwing range of the Spear: the oldest weaponWell documented
The connection
A spear thrown by hand travels only so far. The atlatl acts as an extra arm segment, adding leverage, so a light spear or dart flies much faster and farther. It turned the throwing spear into a true long-range weapon for hunters and warriors.
When and how
France by at least 17,500 years ago (Combe-Saunière), and later in the Americas, Australia and parts of Asia.
How we know
Surviving throwers and darts, the fit between hooks and dart ends, and modern experiments measuring speed and range.
Debates and open questions
How much farther atlatl darts flew in combat than hand-thrown spears is argued; experimental results vary widely with skill and design.
▸Spear: the oldest weapon became the main weapon of the Phalanx (hoplite and Macedonian)Well documented
The connection
Greek hoplites fought in a dense line with a thrusting spear, the dory, about 2.5 meters (8 feet) long, backed by a short sword. Philip II of Macedon lengthened it into the sarissa, a pike of about 4–6 meters (13–20 feet), so several ranks of points reached the enemy at once.
When and how
Greece from about 700 BC; Macedon under Philip II and Alexander the Great, 359–323 BC.
How we know
Greek writers such as Herodotus, Thucydides and Polybius, vase paintings, and surviving spearheads and butt-spikes.
Debates and open questions
How phalanx battles actually unfolded, a mass shoving match or a looser fight with spears, is still argued.
▸Spear: the oldest weapon returned as the pike in The military revolution (pike, shot and star forts)Well documented
The connection
After centuries in which mounted knights dominated, the spear returned as the pike, about 5–6 meters (16–20 feet) long. Swiss and later Spanish pikemen formed squares that stopped cavalry while musketeers fired beside them: the pike-and-shot armies of the 1500s and 1600s. The bayonet ended the pike around 1700.
When and how
Scotland and Flanders around 1300, the Swiss from the 1300s, Spanish tercios in the 1500s; across Europe until about 1700.
How we know
Military manuals, muster rolls, battle accounts, and surviving pikes in arsenals such as the Graz armory in Austria.
Debates and open questions
How much pike and shot, as opposed to guns and new fortresses, drove the 'military revolution' is part of a wider debate.