About this objectAn iron spearhead. It was found embedded in the upper chest of a man aged 20-25 and 1.885 m tall at Blackhorse Road, Letchworth Garden City, indicating that the deceased was victim of a spear thrust. The position of the spear tip shows that it had pierced the pleura and possibly also the lung; it would also have severed the subclavian artery or vein. Death would have followed haemorrhaging from the severed blood vessels or from the collapse of the lungs, perhaps a combination of the two. The spear was probably thrust by a left-handed person into the right side of the neck; the deceased was either leaning forward at the time of impact or lying prone on the ground. Hertfordshire Historic Environment Record entry.
