An Italian Lugged Spear?

[Philip]

Originally Posted by CSinTX

I believe the broad point is a result of it being ground down at some point in its life.

Its odd that there also appears to be a change in metal where it transitions from diamond to ribbed. But both areas appear to be old and the transition is gradual. It appears it was made this way. Also, a previous owner applied a strong acid in this area. I assume they were trying to look for where the metal was fused?

Thanks for these close up photos. Yes, the tip area definitely looks like it was ground down to reshape a possibly broken-off bit of the point, at some time in the past. You'd almost expect this, to some degree, on weapons that old that were made for combat, and were of a type in active use for a long time.

A gradual change in metal coloration, as often detected with acid treatment, can indicate the effect of heat treating. I've encountered this a lot when doing full polish/etch on some Oriental weapons, especially those from India where the effect can be quite marked. However, in one of your images I see hints of a fairly discernible transverse shadow at one point, going across the blade. There is so much old pitting all over that it would be a shame to disturb the surface in the area for a more invasive metallographic study. Again, referring to India, a lap- or tongue-joint to weld sections of the billet that was to become the blade was not an uncommon practice, but there the metals were combined at the forte (just ahead of the hilt by about three inches) or at the very tip of armor piercing daggers. How extensively (or whether) either of these methods were used by Western smiths is something that can be explored further.