Ancient weapons

thumb|upright=0.55|Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century

thumb |Zulu people|Zulu chief Goza and two of his councillors in war-dress, all with [[Nguni shields, . The size of the shield on the chief's left arm denotes his status, and the white colour that he is a married man.]] thumb|Wall painting depicting a Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greek "figure eight", 15th century BC, [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]]

thumb|A typical crossbow|upright=1.3

short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon

thumb|300px|Trident of Poseidon

thumb|upright=1.3|Inuit|Inuk hunter with harpoon in Kayak, Hudson Bay, thumb|upright=1.3|Unaaq , a harpoon used by Inuit, long, MHNT

thumb|Pipe tomahawk thumb|Modern commercial tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft.

thumb|upright=1.25|Man with a shield throwing a javelin thumb|upright|Javelin thrower. Bronze, Laconian style, third quarter of the 6th century BC

100px|thumb|right|Pilum The pilum (; : pila) was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about long overall, consisting of an iron shank about in diameter and long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft by either a socket or a flat tang.

ranged weapon system consisting of an elastic launching device and long-shafted projectiles

thumb|300px|Demonstration of a blowgun by a Yagua hunter

thumb|A silver Peruvian atlatl from the 12th–15th century thumb|Atlatl in use

thumb|upright=1.95|Macedonian phalanx

Bolas or bolases (: bola; from Spanish and Portuguese bola, "ball", also known as a boleadora or boleadeira) is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entangling their legs. Bolas were most famously used by the gauchos, but have been found in excavations of Pre-Columbian settlements, especially in Patagonia, where indigenous peoples (particularly the Tehuelche) used them to catch 200-pound guanacos and rheas. The Mapuche and the Inca army used them in battle. Mapuche warriors used bolas in their confrontations with the Chilean

thumb|right|Minoan gold votive double axe or labrys, less than 4 inches tall. On the left blade is an inscription in undeciphered Linear A; possibly an invocation to the goddess Demeter.|257x257px

thumb|Clipeus of Iupiter-Ammon, conserved at the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona|Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona thumb|A Victorian depiction of a hoplite with a clipeus In the military of classical antiquity, a clipeus (; Ancient Greek: ἀσπίς) was a large shield worn by the Greek hoplites and Romans as a piece of defensive armor, which they carried upon the arm, to protect them from the blows of their enemies. It was round in shape and in the middle was a bolt of iron, or of some other metal, with a sharp point. The clipeus was more-or-less identical to the earlier aspis.

thumb|Outline of a sica

small, unpowered missile weapon

The xyston ( "spear, javelin; pointed or spiked stick, goad), was a type of a long thrusting spear in ancient Greece. It measured about long and was probably held by the cavalryman with both hands. It had a wooden shaft and a spear-point at both ends. Possible reasons for the secondary spear-tip were that it acted partly as a counterweight and also served as a backup in case the xyston was broken in action. The xyston is usually mentioned in context with the hetairoi (), the cavalry forces of ancient Macedon. After Alexander the Great's death, the hetairoi were named xystophoroi (, "spear-bear

thumb|right|Dacian warriors wielding a two-handed on the Tropaeum Traiani

large convex lens that can concentrate the sun's rays onto a small area, heating up the area and thus resulting in ignition of the exposed surface

thumb|Gē with engraved decoration of a tiger, Warring States period (475–221 BC) thumb|Eastern Zhou bronze dagger-axe alt= Dagger-axes and variants|thumb|Two dagger-axes (left), alongside four jis

thumb|Reenactor with angon The angon (Medieval Greek , Old High German ango, Old English anga "hook, point, spike") is a type of javelin that was used during the Early Middle Ages by the Anglo-Saxons, Franks, Goths, and other Germanic peoples. It was similar to, and probably derived from, the pilum used by the Roman army and had a barbed head and long narrow socket or shank made of iron mounted on a wooden haft.

thumb|250px|Shown on Tropaeum Traiani Metope The rhomphaia () was a close-combat bladed weapon used by the Thracians as early as 350-400 BC. Rhomphaias were weapons with a straight or slightly curved single-edged blade. Although the rhomphaia was similar to the falx, most archaeological evidence suggests that rhomphaias were forged with straight or slightly curved blades, presumably to enable their use as both a thrusting and slashing weapon. The blade was constructed of iron and used a triangular cross section to accommodate the single cutting edge with a tang of rectangular cross section. Le

thrown weapon

thumb|right|350px|Example of an oak eku 72" long with closeup of round end and ridged spine on top side

thumb|Virtus extending a parazonium on a sestertius issued under [[Hadrian]]

ancient Egyptian tomb artifact

long Chinese staff weapon used in Chinese martial arts

weapon in Chinese martial arts

thumb|350px|Iberian soliferreum from the Bastida de les Alcusses. Prehistory Museum of Valencia Soliferrum or Soliferreum (Latin: solus, "only" and ferrum, "iron") was the Roman name for an ancient Iberian ranged polearm made entirely of iron. The soliferrum was a heavy hand-thrown javelin, designed to be thrown to a distance of up to 30 meters. In the Iberian language it was known as saunion.

Falarica, also phalarica, was an ancient Iberian ranged polearm that was sometimes used as an incendiary weapon.

dagger

thumb|Scythian archer holding a sagaris, as depicted by the vase-painter Euphronios on an Attic red-figure [[neck amphora (510–500 BC, Louvre)]]

thumb|Artist rendition of a harpe sword The harpē () is a type of sword- or sickle-like weapon mentioned in Greek and Roman sources, and almost always in mythological contexts.

thumb|right|250px|A surujin of rope and two stones. The surujin or suruchin is one of the traditional weapons of Okinawan kobudo. It comprises a long rope with a weight tied to each end. Historically this weapon is very prevalent and can be found attached to a weapon or used separately. It is a weapon designed for warfare.

category of historical weapons using heat or burning to attack enemy personnel, fortifications or territories

Parashu () is the Sanskrit word for a battle-axe, which can be wielded with one or both hands.

thumb|Pluto holding a bident in a woodcut from the Gods and Goddesses series of Hendrick Goltzius (1588–1589)

throwing weapon

archaeological artifact of China

The verutum, plural veruta (), was a short javelin used in the Roman army. This javelin was used by the velites for skirmishing purposes, unlike the heavier pilum, which was used by the hastati and principes for weakening the enemy before advancing into close combat. The shafts were about long, substantially shorter than the pilum, and the point measured about long. The verutum had either an iron shank like the pilum or a tapering metal head. It was sometimes thrown with the aid of a throwing strap, or amentum.

cold weapon

300px|thumb|Tepoztōpīlli from the Armeria Real collection in Madrid thumbnail|A page from the Codex Mendoza depicting Aztec warriors each wielding a tepoztopilli 100px|left|thumb|Modern replica of a tepoztopilli. The tepoztopilli was a common front-line weapon of the Aztec military. The tepoztopilli was a pole-arm, and to judge from depictions in various Aztec codices it was roughly the height of a man, although historian John Pohl indicates that the weapon used between the 12th and 14th century was made in sizes from in length. The wedge-shaped wooden head, about twice the length of the users

melee weapon

A spiculum is a late Roman spear that replaced the pilum as the infantryman's main throwing javelin around 250 AD. Scholars suppose that it could have resulted from the gradual combination of the pilum and two German spears, the angon and the bebra. As more and more Germans joined the Roman army, their culture and traditions became a driving force for change. The spiculum was better than the old pilum when used as a thrusting spear, but still maintained some of the former weapon's penetrative power when thrown.thumb|Illustration of a spiculum

thumb|A replica amappo on display at the Osaka Museum of Natural History thumb|John Batchelor (missionary)|John Batchelor (1854-1944), "The Ainu of Japan", 1892, classic horizontal amappo thumb|Ibid., vertical amappo for otter thumb|Ibid., amappo rat trap An was a traditional bear and deer hunters' trap of the Ainu people of the northern Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. Traps similar to amappo were also used by ethnic Japanese matagi hunters.