Texts - Riding spur (abstract)
Summary: A 9th.century riding spur in the view of blacksmith
Abstract
Patrick Barta made a replica of a riding spur of Prušánky type from medieval cemetery in Divaky(CZ), grave 163(photo 2). The Divaky spur isnt very exacting product of blacksmithing(see making process-fig 1) except making of plates on ends of spur-legs. These plates were probably drilled and than put together by small iron rivets to the spur-legs(fig.3). "ecause the ownership of small gimlet for drilling of iron was in early middleage certainly rare, so there is probable, that the maker wasnt a ordinary smith, but a specialist. Two spurs need 320 g of soft iron and 15 hours of smith-work. It appears, that spurs were common and no very expensive goods.Anyway in overall charges for riding horse was certainly a amount for spurs only trivial part.
[[ full version in czech language ]]
BÁRTA Patrick, Ostruha z 9. Století z Divák pohledem kováře. Hradec Králové 2010. Živá archeologie 11/2010, str. 136-137, ISSN 1213-1628