The tip of the crossbow arrow - the bolt - was found during excavations on Pokrovskaya Hill, in the historical center of Bryansk city. In the 12th century, a fortified settlement was located there. Here, archaeologists have also found ceramic vessels, glass jewelry, fragments of horse harness, knives, beads made of precious stones, a mouth harp and other objects belonging to different centuries.
Crossbow bolt
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Crossbow bolt
Creation period
XIV century
Dimensions
8x1,5 cm
Technique
Steel, forging
Collection
Exhibition
1
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Crossbow bolt
#2
#5
In Russia, crossbows were called ‘self-shooters’. Such weapons replaced the traditional bow. The first annalistic references to crossbows date back to the middle of the 13th century. For example, the Ipatiev Chronicle says of the ancient city of Kholm:
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‘It is impossible to take this city, because boyars and people of kindness are in it who defend the city with catapults and crossbows’.
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Near the city of Izyaslavl, archaeologists found the oldest crossbow hook in Europe which was used to stretch the crossbow. Crossbows were expensive, so only wealthy warriors could afford them for armament.
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Crossbow arrows were called bolts. They had a short thick shaft and no fletching, as the flight path was set by the heavy forged tip. Crossbow bolt weighed more than an ordinary arrow, 18 to 50 grams. Its average length was 30 to 40 centimeters; some types of bolts could be longer.
Scientists dated the tip of the bolt discovered on Pokrovskaya Hill as belonging to the 14th century. It was forged from iron and rather roughly processed, receiving a tetrahedral shape, square in cross section. Such bolts could pierce ring armor shirts. Later, when plate armor appeared, the shape of the crossbow tips changed: they became diamond-shaped in cross section.
#9
Depending on the method of attachment to the shaft, crossbow bolts fell into two types: tanged and sleeve-like. The arrowhead from the Bryansk Antiquities collection belongs to the first type. It ends with a long stem which had to be hammered into a shaft, after which the joint was bandaged. By the end of the 14th century, such bolts were rarely used: they were replaced by sleeve tips that were mounted on a shaft and fastened to it with one or two nails.
The warriors with the rossbows in Miniature in Russian chronicle. XVI century. Source: ru.wikipedia.org
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The length of the crossbow tip from Pokrovskaya Hill is 8 centimeters. These were usually made for hand-held crossbows. Stationary crossbows needed larger and heavier arrows.
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State Budgetary Institution for Culture “Bryansk State Local Lore Museum”
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Crossbow bolt
Creation period
XIV century
Dimensions
8x1,5 cm
Technique
Steel, forging
Collection
Exhibition
1
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