Ancient Harpoons: Weaponry & Ceremonial

Its distinctively vicious barbs prevented the point of this spear from being dislodged from its victim, although we cannot be certain that the fine examples in our collection would have had a practical use. Indeed, the excessive weight and size suggests in some instances that these harpoons would have served a ceremonial purpose, or as objects of exchange or status symbols. On the other hand, some of our most impressive examples come from the Bactrian copper hoards (circa. 1500 BC), which predominantly comprise of hunting equipment.