Forged iron, 8 ¼” length with a diamond section fore spike and angled back hook. The tang with a square hole for securing in its haft would have had an iron ferrule. These hooks were used for shipping and whaling and pressed into service during the Revolution as polearms, capable of pulling a rider from his horse and inflicting a fatal wound. The primary weapon for American troops when the war began, was the spear which is a variant. See Collector’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, Neumann p.217 #3.
