It's way easier to disprove something with the reenactment approach than to prove it. A lot of things could have worked (the Greeks inventing gun powder or actu

It's way easier to disprove something with the reenactment approach than to prove it. A lot of things could have worked (the Greeks inventing gun powder or actually using glue for their linothorax), but that doesn't bring them in existence retroactively. Although in this case I'd probably go with the "it just was very rare" crowd. We've got all kinds of weird weaponry: three section staves, dueling shields, executioner swords, hunga mungas, mancatchers... People tried and still try a lot to kill other people, but in the end it comes down to the basics most often (like swords, spears and open office plans). At least we'll always have enough evidence for all three squazillion variants of polearms.