=Mycenaean spears and arrows.=--The spear was in Homeric times the soldier's most important arm, a long and heavy weapon which was thrown with great force or used for thrusting. Mycenaean spearheads are illustrated in a series from Ialysos (No. =251=; fig. 97). They are skilfully made to secure the greatest strength with the least expenditure of material; in most cases the shaft runs far up into the blade, which is narrow and springs gently from the socket, some being wider near the point than at the base. There is considerable variety of shape, but all are characterised by the thin blade with shallow curves. Mycenaean arrowheads from the same site are of more primitive design (No. =252=; fig. 98). The best are large and heavy, and have long barbs; a tang and no socket to take the shaft. Others are curiously flat and weak, and are plainly metal reproductions of a stone pattern. [Illustration: FIG. 98.--MYCENAEAN BRONZE ARROWHEADS FROM IALYSOS (NO. 252). 2:3.] =Italian Bronze Age.=--The Bronze Age of Italy is represented here by daggers and spears which date from about the fifteenth to the tenth century B.C. Italian daggers are remarkable for the use of engraved geometrical decoration on the blades. The first class resembles the Mycenaean weapons in the form of the hilt with edges raised for inlay and crescent-shaped pommel, and the round base of the blade is also similar to an early Mycenaean type. The haft of one dagger is wound with bronze wire, another has an ivory handle bound with gold (No. =253=; fig. 99_a_), and a third has the pommel filled with ivory (No. 254). Some of the blades were made separately, and riveted to the hilt after the primitive fashion (No. =255=; fig. 99_b_). In that case the hilt was split to receive the tang, and overlapped the base (No. =256=). Some of these daggers diverge still further from the Mycenaean in having the blade with recurving edges which is characteristic of a cutting sword (No. =257=; fig. 99_c_). The sheaths are of peculiar shape, being made of a thin plate of bronze with an ornament at the end in the form of a large round knob or several discs on a peg (No. =258=; fig. 99 _e_, _f_). They are decorated with the same linear designs as the blades. A later variety of Italian sword, known from the horned extremities of the pommel as the _Antennae_ type, is represented by two specimens (No. =259=; fig. 99_d_). In the first, the horns are simply curved projections, in the other they are developed into large rings or spiral coils. The type is of frequent occurrence throughout Europe, even in the north. [Illustration: FIG. 99.--EARLY ITALIAN BRONZE SWORDS AND SHEATHS (NOS. 253, 255, 257-9). 1:6.] [Illustration: FIG. 100.--ITALIAN BRONZE SPEARHEADS (NO. 260).]