Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Ron Anderson · 8th September 2010, 04:42 AM

Hi David

Thanks for your reply. As I said, I'm no expert in this area. However, I have a bit of a background in South African history, which was my academic discipline.

I guess the thing that I find puzzling is that there really was no significant Zulu culture before Shaka.

The Zulu nation was essentially created by Shaka. Before that,Zulu were a small insignificant group within the wide Nguni grouping. It was all very loose. So the fact that there were no swords used broadly at that time among any of the tribes in the region suggests that it simply wasn't in the mindset of those cultures.

In a sense, I suppose the assegai was created to fill that void. Rather than the assegai negating the need for swords, it was probably the opposite – the absence of swords at that time created the need to invent something like the assegai.

Regards
Ron

PS. I do take your point about the variety of sword-type weapons among Polynesians.

8th September 2010, 04:42 AM	#7
Ron Anderson Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 228	Hi David Thanks for your reply. As I said, I'm no expert in this area. However, I have a bit of a background in South African history, which was my academic discipline. I guess the thing that I find puzzling is that there really was no significant Zulu culture before Shaka. The Zulu nation was essentially created by Shaka. Before that,Zulu were a small insignificant group within the wide Nguni grouping. It was all very loose. So the fact that there were no swords used broadly at that time among any of the tribes in the region suggests that it simply wasn't in the mindset of those cultures. In a sense, I suppose the assegai was created to fill that void. Rather than the assegai negating the need for swords, it was probably the opposite – the absence of swords at that time created the need to invent something like the assegai. Regards Ron PS. I do take your point about the variety of sword-type weapons among Polynesians.