Straightness is of great importance in a spear shaft, for throwing especially, but it is also not always easy to achieve. In areas lacking forests of large straight trees whose riven straightgrain heartwood can be used, it seems that sapplings and roots are often used. The bends in these can be somewhat straightened by steaming, and lesser ones that even back out over distance are not as bad, but still tend to wobble the spear in flight. In Europe tool handles are/were traditionally made from "copiced" wood that had been grown to shape. Both knobkerries and shillelaghs are said to be bioengeneered in a way, by producing the knob by winding a (iron) band around the growing root and reburying it. Nevertheless, wiggly spear handles are seen a lot, and I think it is in areas where there are not forests of large trees and/or there is not a tradition of settled longterm agriculture and bioengineering (or whatever you prefer....) of plants?????? I saw an ancient (Assyrian?) chariot reconstructed on TV. They were in the Middle East in whatever appropriate country to the original culture (I don't remember those details though), and they got it made by guys who....hmmmm....I forget what their usual product is, too, but the point is they used bendy wood from small trees, and they straightened it/bent it to shape on frames (reminiscent of Japanese bow makers' clamp frames) after steaming it inside of long tubes.
I read a book on American Indian archery, and the author said much of the talk about poor Indian bows was based on collected examples that had not recieved proper care and had warped and/or dried out.
Leaning and the pull of gravity can have affect over time, but in truth I think the warpage we see here may be more due to moisture exchange with the air. Wood warps with time, especially narrow pieces.....I've seen sheaths with their sides bowed apart a half inch or more, for instance......
In another matter, this does look like a javelin (?) but I generally think of the counterweight/retrieval pommel as a thrusing spear feature? It's worth noting that the division is not neccessarily sharp. Short/one-handed thrusting spears are often/usually used with the blade coming out the bottom of the hand, as if for throwing, and from reinactments and rituals I've seen I'd think that short throws, often for less than the length of the shaft, so it doesn't really leave your hand and you just clamp down and pull it back (this is where pommel for retreival/to keep the spear from shooting out too far or otherwise pulled from you comes in), were often an integral part of technique with short thrusting spears; the division between thrusting spear and javelin does not seem to me to always be a sharp one.....?.....
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