Les armes de jet d’Argilos : catalogue typologique
Archaeological sites such as Olympia, Stymphalos and Olynthus have complete catalogs that studied projectile-style weaponry found in a series of archaeological excavations. These so-called directories frequently include arrowheads, lead sling bullets and sauroters (spear or javelin counter-weights) from different Greco-Roman periods. Through the 20th and 21th centuries AD, specialists such as D. Robinson (1931), A. Snodgrass (1964), H. Baitinger (2001) and Haggerman (2014) dedicated some of their expertise to produce synthesises of these formerly ignored objects. Thus, they created some of the biggest commented encyclopaedias composed solely of projectiles found on Greek soil. Until 2015, all the weaponry found on the archaeological site of Argilos had never been the subject of a synthesis study. Firstly, inspired by similar studies, the projectiles were inventoried in a catalog format. In total, two types of lead sling bullets, eleven arrowhead types and one sauroter type were identified. Lastly, this new content was subjected to comparative analyses with sites containing similar data. The resulting conclusions from these analyses gave birth to the first Argilian weapon typology. Needless to say, the analyses ran into obstacles. In particular, the comprehension that there is almost no existence of a typical Greek arrowhead type and the systematic confusion when one has to distinguish a sauroter, a javelin head, and possibly a gastrasphetes bolt (a heavy large-sized crossbow used during sieges in the 4th century BC). In part, this stems from the historical exchanges between Greece and other Mediterranean, Balkan and oriental civilizations. Furthermore, many of the archaic and classical military reforms brought about a constant evolution on strategic and tactical matters. Considering these factors, among others, and the fact that Argilos was a Greek colony within a Thraco-macedonian territory, the possibility of foreign influence becomes predominant on the typology published in this present thesis. With much hope, we believe without a doubt that this work of research will contribute not only to the history of Argilos but also to the study of military projectiles in Northern Greece.
Projectile Argilos Macedonia Philip II Throwing weapon Arrowhead Lead sling bullet Typology Javelin Catalog