Ancient Roman, Empire Museum Quality Barbed Arrowhead — Pronounced Midrib & Long Tang — Collector’s Piece (No reserve price)

Wear a piece of history, not just jewelry

Museum Quality Barbed Arrowhead — Pronounced Midrib & Long Tang — Collector’s Piece

Object Details

Culture: Proposed Roman Attribution
Period: Proposed Roman Imperial Period (ca. 1st–4th Century AD)
Material: Metal Alloy
Technique: Cast and Hand-Finished
Iconography: Undecorated Projectile Form with Bilateral Barbs, a Raised Axial Midrib and an Elongated Tang

Dimensions

Height: 77.08 mm ±
Width: 17.60 mm ±
Weight: 14.85 g

Description

This distinctive metal-alloy arrowhead is characterised by two backward-facing barbs, a pronounced axial midrib and an elongated tang. Its tapering blade and clearly articulated shoulders create a striking silhouette, while the central rib reinforces the slender composition. A perforation at the tang’s end permits its present display as a pendant; the sequence of this modification remains open to examination.

Barbed-and-tanged copper-alloy arrowheads are documented in museum collections, providing a morphological comparison rather than a specific confirmation of Roman dating. The proposed Imperial attribution places the object within the interpretative context of sagittae, arrows, and the equipment of sagittarii, archers.

Against this martial background, the blade evokes the tension between flight and stillness: once conceived for movement, now held as a miniature sculptural form. Its surviving contours and contrasting surface tones give this collector’s piece a distinctive archaeological presence.

Report, Shipping & Photography

A Cultural and Iconographic Assessment Report is available upon request before dispatch. A printed copy will be prepared and included with the shipment. A signed ownership document issued in the buyer’s name can also be provided if requested before dispatch.

Every shipment is fully insured.

The photographs were taken under warm, museum-inspired lighting to present the object’s surface details and historical character naturally. The object was documented using high-resolution imaging equipment. Its physical structure and form have not been altered; only limited colour-balance adjustments have been applied for visual accuracy. Please consider the photographs together with the stated measurements when assessing its size.

Any cords, separate attachment rings or other display accessories visible in the photographs are not included with the object.

Information

The object is presented in good faith, with a commitment to transparency and scholarly consistency. No object is knowingly offered as a copy or imitation.

Dating, cultural attribution, material identification, original function and symbolic interpretation are academic assessments based on typological comparison and the available comparative evidence. Relevant museum examples and expert opinions are considered where available. These assessments are not definitive laboratory findings; more conclusive identification may require further examination and appropriate analysis beyond the scope of the sale.