Arrowhead

Art Historical Context

This delicate flint arrowhead, crafted by an unknown Frankish artisan, exemplifies the practical artistry of early medieval weaponry. Measuring just 1 x 11/16 x 3/16 inches (2.5 x 1.7 x 0.5 cm), its petite size belies its lethal precision, designed for propulsion from a bow. Dated potentially to 2500–1500 BCE or more likely 400–700 based on its Frankish cultural attribution, it resides in the Metropolitan Museum of's Medieval Art department, gift from J. Pierpont Morgan 1917. Frankish culture, rooted in the Germanic tribes who dominated post-Roman Gaul and laid the foundations for medieval Eu...