Preliminary communication

Pike Spearhead from Sračinec

Martina Matijaško orcid.org/0000-0001-6551-0181 ; Sračinec, Croatia

Abstract

This paper deals with an early modern iron pike spearhead accidentally found during construction work in a courtyard belonging to Majcen Ivan from Sračinec. To determine and date the spearhead, a comparison analysis was undertaken regarding similar finds from Croatia and abroad. It was determined that this spearhead belongs to a long spear, so-called pike, which was used with great intensity
during the 15th and 16th centuries on western and middle European battlegrounds. Judging by available historical data, this spearhead probably arrived in Sračinec during Turkish presence in the area surrounding Varaždin in 1552. In this period, 12 villages, including Sračinec, had been sacked and burned. In addition, the Slavonian military border with Varaždin as its capital and where the main armory was located, was gradually formed in the 16th century. Large concentration of troops and weapons combined with the proximity of the Turkish border had to leave some physical trace; this spearhead is one of them. Without some additional data regarding the spearhead found in Sračinec, it will never be truly possible to say where it was wrought or in which skirmish or battle lost. However, with data and hypothesis here presented, it serves as an additional light on a very turbulent past of the 16th century Varaždin region.

Keywords

pike shearhead; Early Modern Period; Sračinec; Slavonian military frontier

Hrčak ID:

95364

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/95364

Publication date:

3.12.2012.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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