Spears are basically any weapon with a wooden shaft and pointed tip used exclusively for thrusting and throwing; the spear is
more a category than a particular weapon design. Simple wooden spears have been around since the beginning of human history.
Spear points have been made of every conceivable material which can be edged or pointed: wood, stone, bone, animal spines,
and metal. Throwing spears were generally very long while thrusting spears tended to be shorter. The basic spear, when used for
thrusting, was the ancestor of all weapons in the polearm group (the idea being to fight your enemy at arm’s length or greater).
As a combat weapon, throwing spears had one very significant disadvantage: they could be used only once unless your enemy
decided to throw them back at you. For this reason, most spearmen always carried a secondary weapon such as a sword, axe, or
mace for use in close quarters fighting.