During these eras, the spear would develop into a longer lance-like weapon used for cavalry charges. These close formations of men marched or ran toward their opponents bristling with spear points, which they then thrust into the enemy’s line. Some Mao from this era are heavily decorated as is evidenced by a Warring States period Mao from the Ba Shu area. The other was the development of the sarissa, a two-handed pike 550cm (18ft) in length, by the Macedonians under Phillip of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In the early Shang, the Mao appeared to have a relatively short shaft as well as a relatively narrow shaft as opposed to Mao in the later Shang and Western Zhou period.

Barred spears: A barred spear has a crossbar beneath the blade, to prevent too deep a penetration of the spear into an animal. The thrusting spear also has the advantage of reach, being considerably longer than other weapon types. The word spear comes from the Old English spere, from the Proto-Germanic speri, from a Proto-Indo-European root *sper- "spear, pole".

After the Han dynasty toward the Sui and Tang dynasties the Mao used by cavalry were fitted with much longer shafts, as is mentioned above.

Chimpanzees near Kédougou, Senegal have been observed to create spears by breaking straight limbs off trees, stripping them of their bark and side branches, and sharpening one end with their teeth. The Clacton Spear found in England and the Schöningen spears found in present-day Germany document that wooden spears have been used for hunting since at least 400,000 years ago. In the 12th century, after the adoption of stirrups and a high-cantled saddle, the spear became a decidedly more powerful weapon.Spears in the Indian society were used both in missile and non-missile form, both by cavalry and foot-soldiers. The spear is listed in the group of the four major weapons (along with the gun ( staff), dao (a single-edged blade similar to a sabre), and the jian ( sword)). Those infantry not armed with these weapons carried variations on the polearm, including the halberd and the bill. Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray used a circular schiltron on the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn.

In the Chinese martial arts, the Chinese spear ( Qiang 槍) is popularly known as the "king of weapons". The Rajputs wielded a type of spear for infantrymen which had a club integrated into the spearhead, and a pointed butt end.The bar may be forged as part of the spearhead or may be more loosely tied by means of loops below the blade. Chiron's wedding-gift to Peleus when he married the nymph Thetis in classical Greek mythology, was an ashen spear as the nature of ashwood with its straight grain made it an ideal choice of wood for a spear. Pole-arms and tactics evolved along these lines until the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, when soldiers used elaborate pikes like the halberd—a combination spear with a point, an ax-blade for cleaving helmets, and a hook for pulling armoured knights off their horses. Cavalry armed with pistols and other lighter firearms, along with a sword, had virtually replaced lance armed cavalry in Western Europe by the beginning of the 17th century. Shaka of the Zulu invented a shorter stabbing spear with a 30cm (1ft) shaft and a larger, broader blade one foot (0.

The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as bone, flint, obsidian, copper, bronze, iron, or steel.

In the late period of the Roman Empire, the spear became more often used because of its anti-cavalry capacities as the barbarian invasions were often conducted by people with a developed culture of cavalry in warfare.