However, the rectangular schiltron was much more common and was used by King Robert the Bruce on the second day of the Battle of Bannockburn and in the Battle of Old Byland when he defeated English armies. Ford, "On the Significance of some Arthurian Names in Welsh", in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 30 (1983), pp. Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray used a circular schiltron on the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn.

Along with the club, knife, and axe, it is one of the earliest and most widespread tools ever developed by early humans. We received funding from the South West London Integrated Care System to deliver Health and Wellbeing Days to people experiencing homelessness. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.The Rajputs wielded a type of spear for infantrymen which had a club integrated into the spearhead, and a pointed butt end. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as bone, flint, obsidian, copper, bronze, iron, or steel. The hoko spear was used in ancient Japan sometime between the Yayoi period and the Heian period, but it became unpopular as early samurai often acted as horseback archers.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the spear and shield continued to be used by nearly all Western European cultures.Animals taken are primarily wild boar and deer, although trophy animals as large as Cape Buffalo have been hunted with spears. Notable types of early medieval spears include the angon, a throwing spear with a long head similar to the Roman pilum, used by the Franks and Anglo-Saxons, and the winged (or lugged) spear, which had two prominent wings at the base of the spearhead, either to prevent the spear penetrating too far into an enemy or to aid in spear fencing. This did not mean that they were less lethal, as obsidian may be sharpened to become many times sharper than steel. Berbers pronounced it zaġāya, but the English term, derived from the Old French via Berber, is " assegai".

The spear was used as the primary weapon in expeditions and battles against neighbouring island kingdoms and it became famous during the 1521 Battle of Mactan, where the chieftain Lapu Lapu of Cebu fought against Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan who was subsequently killed. The development of both the long, two-handed pike and gunpowder firearms in Renaissance Europe saw an ever-increasing focus on integrated infantry tactics. These stone heads could be fixed to the spear shaft by gum or resin or by bindings made of animal sinew, leather strips or vegetable matter. The spear is listed in the group of the four major weapons (along with the gun ( staff), dao (a single-edged blade similar to a sabre), and the jian ( sword)). Spears were used in conflicts and training by armed paramilitary units such as the razakars of Nizams of Hyderabad State as late as the second half of the 20th century.In some archaeological examples two tiny holes or ears can be found in the blade of the spearhead near the socket, these holes were presumably used to attach tassels, much like modern day wushu spears.

A 2012 study from the site of Kathu Pan in South Africa suggests that hominids, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, may have developed the technology of hafted stone-tipped spears in Africa about 500,000 years ago. While originally a weapon, this came to be seen more as a badge of office, or leading staff by which troops were directed. During this period, a clear difference remained between spears designed to be thrown and those designed to be used in hand-to-hand combat. Throwing spears became rarer as the Middle Ages drew on, but survived in the hands of specialists such as the Catalan Almogavars. From circa 200,000 BC onwards, Middle Paleolithic humans began to make complex stone blades with flaked edges which were used as spear heads.Shaka of the Zulu invented a shorter stabbing spear with a 30cm (1ft) shaft and a larger, broader blade one foot (0. The various types of the assegai (a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron or fire-hardened tip) were used throughout Africa and it was the most common weapon used before the introduction of firearms.