Pattern-welded (twist core) Budiak

[vilhelmsson]

Originally Posted by Lee

So, ironically, the protobudiak gets to be the reference point as I pull something from the opposite side of the globe and a millennium further back out of the armoury to compare with it, namely a mid to late Viking Age (Carolingian) winged spearhead. The big, obvious differences are that the winged spearhead is socketed (with two small protrusions or 'wings' arising from the socket) and the tanged protobudiak has more pronounced fullering. In functional impact, however, these two spearheads are nearly identical in length (protobudiak 355 mm; winged spearhead 345 mm - measuring from where each blade begins to expand out from neck to the tip) and in mass (protobudiak as pictured including partial mounts and epoxy 469 grams; winged spearhead 409 grams with some losses from the socket on the opposite side).

I recently received delivery of a similar Type D Viking Age spearhead. I was eager to see if it had pattern welding. The core seems to be pattern-welded, though it could also be some clever texturing, but it is consistent on both sides of the spear (see the contrasty, filtered images).

But when I held it in my hand, I was similarly struck by its similarities to a budiak spearhead that I had purchased earlier in the year. Their silhouettes are almost identical (from neck to tip), and they share the aesthetic of core pattern-welding. I haven't weighed them, but they have a similar heft. It's fascinating that cultures a world and a millennium apart made such similar design decisions on their spears.

(I promise to try to get better at taking pictures of my weapons...)