This medieval iron hunting arrowhead was found recently at Hungate. It consists of long barbs welded to a central spine which is socketed to take the wooden shaft of the arrow. The wood has long since rotted away. It is the shape of the barbs that tell us this is a hunting arrowhead. Hunters would be unlikely to kill an animal with one shot. Instead the barbs create a large wound and cause blood loss that would weaken the animal, making it easier to capture and then kill. Hunting in the forests around York would have been both a sporting pastime and a method of obtaining meat to eat. Deer antlers were also a useful raw material that was used to make a variety of other objects. This arrowhead most closely resembles a type which dates to the 14th century.

Another arrowhead from Hungate has been recognised through X-radiography. On most archaeological sites a thick crust of corrosion forms around iron objects, obscuring their original shape. X-rays penetrate this corrosion to reveal the object within. This second arrowhead appears to be one of a number of long-lived multi-purpose forms that could have been used for either hunting or for warfare. Similar examples have been found on sites dating from the 10th to 16th centuries.

Rachel Cubitt