Ancient Bronze '' Keris '' found in Bujang Valley Malaysia
 

http://image.slidesharecdn.com/final...?cb=1436543694

Location : Lembah Bujang ''Bujang Valley'' Kedah, Malaysia


http://i63.tinypic.com/2h4l2dj.jpg



Credit : Lang Kataha

Interesting.

Do we have details of the finding and results of examination?

Well, i see a rusty wavy dagger, but i don't see a keris. ;) :)

AFAIK, bronze does not rust. Is it iron?

Yes David, correct, but we do have a flamboyant blade in something that purports to be very old, the Bujang Valley culture endured for a reasonably long time, so it would be nice to know a bit about this find. Especially so since in Indonesia falsification of such finds, mostly for the purpose of marketing forgeries, is not unknown.

Ariel, I think we may find that the rust coloured deposits are from earth adhesions. There is another possibility, and that is that the item in question was buried together with iron objects, and the rusting iron has adhered to the metal of the dagger; I have a Majapahit era bell that has a similar rust coloured stain.

That sounds very reasonable. Thanks Alan.

Absolutely. Sorry if my response led you to believe i thought otherwise. :)

Buddha ?

http://i.imgur.com/aEpaCWA.jpg

Update (27/4/2016)


http://i68.tinypic.com/29vgd2t.jpg

My antennae are still twitching...
I thought that metal scabbards were made only in the 19th ( or later) century Europe.
Am I wrong?

There are some Bronze Age Chinese bronze scabbards. Wasn't the usual practice, but sometimes done.

Sorry, unedited post managed to slide thru:-(((

Just to think that Lew Nolan was tearing his hair out at the stupidity of British military regulations that introduced edge-dulling metal scabbards!

But apparently the Chinese beat the Brits to it:-)

There are Iron Age Celtic scabbards described as "all metal", usually iron, but sometimes bronze or iron and bronze. I don't know whether they're really all-iron, or iron-covered wooden cores, or lined.

19th century British iron scabbards I've seen had (or were supposed to have) wooden liners to keep the edge away from the iron. The problem is that the lining strips would wear, and not do their job properly. In 1880, they started to do scabbards with a solid wooden liner (rather than strips), so the late scabbards are basically iron/steel-covered wooden scabbards.