Philippine Spearhead?
 

Hello,
Sold as: "spear point w/case brought back Herbert read Carney 32nd Div 126th Inf bronze medal Abecito River". In 1945, the 126th Infantry was engaged in bitter fighting with the Japanese in Luzon for control of the Villa Verde Trail but I can find no Abecito River in the Philippines. Nor can I find any Herbert Carney listed as a medal winner. The item measures about 12-5/8" (32 cm) long. Blade is about 11-1/4" (28.5 cm) long and 1-1/16 (2.8 cm) at the widest. Tang is about 1-1/2" (3 cm) long and is wrapped with remnants of what appear to be hair & tar. Oval brass ferrule is about 5/16" (9 mm) x 15/32" (11 mm) and about 3/16" (4 mm) deep. Copper wrap on sheath may not be original to the piece. The blade doesn't look robust enough to be a combat spearhead. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
RobT

This could be a WWII era version of a Mandaya spearhead. It has several Mandaya characteristics like the tip and the bottom.

Older versions have a central panel and they are wider.

I agree with Battara. This does look like a Mandayan spear head, or possibly Bagobo. It is not typical of Luzon spears.

Ian.

It Does look Mandayan
 

Battara & Ian,
Thanks for your responses. It does look like a Mandayan shape and the sheath does look Philippino. I do have two concerns however. First is that all the Mandayan spearheads I have seen on line are far larger and more robust that what I have. Second problem is all those spearheads are socketed. Mine has a tang. I wonder if it is a spearhead for hunting, not warfare. Either that or the Mandayans like really large arrowheads
Sincerely,
RobT

Actually my Mandaya spearhead and the one that I sold recently both have tangs.

I have two socketed ones but I think they may be the exception rather than the rule.
Are you sure the socketed examples you've seen are not just ferruled?
Sometimes it's hard to tell from an old picture; or have you seen them IRL like in a museum.

From the photo, it looks easily robust enough for a fighting spear. How thick is the blade at the "waist" near the point? (I think 4mm would be thick enough; under 2mm would make me wonder if it's decorative.)

Thickness & Tangs
 

Battara & Rick,
Thanks for the heads up about the tangs. A further search online shows that what I originally thought were sockets are quite likely ferrules.
Timo,
My micrometer (Starrett) gives a thickness at the flared area just below the tip (I think that's what you mean as the waist) of .077" (1.96 mm) which is a tad less than 5/16" (.078125). The thickest area of the blade (at the base) is .124" (3.15 mm) which is a tiny bit less than 1/8" (.125). The blade is under your 2 mm minimum but it doesn't look very decorative. Could it be for hunting something like wild pig?
Sincerely,
RobT

My usual rule-of-thumb is that if the tip of a weapon is thinner than 2mm for a few inches/5cm or more, it's designed with cutting in mind, and sacrifices strength in thrusting to improve cutting.

To make a spear with a cutting-focussed tip strikes me as unusual. But being able to cut well and easily with a fighting spear is a Good Thing. Also good for the head to be light, which also encourages thin. (It's easy to get "light" by making the head small, but a long blade is also good on a fighting spear.)

From a functional viewpoint, having almost parallel edges as one approaches the tip, and then an abrupt and short taper to the point, works with thin quite well. The width near the tip gives strength, and allows a thin tip. The profile of the blade might be functional design, rather than just fashion. (Compare with flared tips on swords that become very thin near the tip, like oxtail dao, the British 1796 light cavalry sword, many falchions, etc.)

There are cut-and-thrust swords made for the battlefield that have tips less than 2mm thick for the last few inches. Usually not much below 2mm (more purely cutting swords can approach 1mm), so comparable with this spearhead.

(I don't know what the local wild pigs are like. For wild pigs here, and in some other places, you probably want something quite robust. Perhaps more robust than you'd take to a fight.)

Now A Spear in Good Standing
 

Timo,
Thanks so much for sticking with this and giving such a good explanation. The spearhead will join my budiak and my Masai lion spear as a spearhead in good standing.
Sincerely,
RobT