Roman weaponry in free Germania

The remains of Roman javelins and chain mail from Germanic graves were certainly spoils of war. The typical javelin of Roman legionaries, the so-called pilum, was an armour-piercing weapon to penetrate opponents’ chain mail. The intentionally bent pilum from Langenbek comes as a grave good from an urn burial. Shattered pieces of chain mail are frequently found in women’s graves; Germanic women wore them on their necklaces as souvenirs.