1968.104: Arrowhead
Weapons and AmmunitionIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1968.104
- Title
- Arrowhead
- Classification
- Weapons and Ammunition
- Work Type
- arrowhead
- Date
- 15th-10th century BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia
- Period
- Iron Age
- Culture
- Near Eastern
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/287208
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Bronze
- Technique
- Cast, lost-wax process
- Dimensions
- 6 cm (2 3/8 in.)
- Technical Details
-
Chemical Composition: XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, iron, nickel, arsenic
K. Eremin, January 2014Technical Observations: The patina is mostly dark brown, with some lighter brown areas in the recesses. Only a small area shows any green corrosion products. The overall pitting on the surface suggests that the arrowhead was chemically treated, and the surface was probably also scraped smooth during the post-excavation cleaning process.
The object was cast in one piece. The void between the barbs and the raised midrib may have been formed in the wax by cutting a slit on either side of the midrib and rolling or elongating the partly freed wax sections into the tapering barbs. Small indentations on the base of the midrib where it meets the body of arrowhead could also have been formed in the wax. The facets that define the midrib, the point, and body of the arrowhead could have partly been formed in the wax and further enhanced in the metal stage. The horizontal line that runs across the bottom of the midrib appears to have been formed in the metal.
Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Richard R. Wagner, gift; to the Fogg Museum, 1968.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Richard R. Wagner
- Accession Year
- 1968
- Object Number
- 1968.104
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
- Two long, thin, sharp barbs jut out from the sides of this arrowhead. There is a slight midrib on both sides of the head, and it has a raised shoulder. The tip is wide and curved. The tang is rectangular in section and tapers from the head to the end.
Subjects and Contexts
- Ancient Bronzes
Verification Level
This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu