are these zulu stabbing spears ?

chiefheadknocker · 10th October 2015, 10:35 AM

ive recently acquired these two spears and I think they are a stabbing type spear but are they Zulu ,the shafts are quite narrow ?
total length122cm blade 35cm.
any info would be great

colin henshaw · 11th October 2015, 10:41 AM

They could be Zulu, but could equally be from one of the other tribal groups in the area. The knobkerrie looks Swazi, with that grooving to the offset head .

kronckew · 11th October 2015, 11:57 PM

my iklwa haft is about 7/8" just behind the head wire braiding, tapering up to a much wider far end.

all the kwaZulu iklwas i have seen have a small notch where the curved spear edge meets the tang, and this transition is very close to where it enters the haft. besides wire braid re-enforcement, they also used as an alternate, a sleeve made of a cows tail skin tube which shrink dries on the end.

i cannot tell if these also have the notch. bigger photos would help. zulu throwing spears were longer, and had longer tangs on the head, the blade/tang/notch could be a substatial number of inches from the haft end. the hafts were also in general much longer, tho they could have been cut down for transport back to the UK. shortening a throwing spear does not make it an iklwa. there are of course some variations in dimensions as they were hand made items, many made by conquered tribes who supplied the zulus with weapons as tribute. they also may have used them. the bantu xohsa were more than just the kwaZulu.

10th October 2015, 10:35 AM	#1
chiefheadknocker Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 143	are these zulu stabbing spears ? ive recently acquired these two spears and I think they are a stabbing type spear but are they Zulu ,the shafts are quite narrow ? total length122cm blade 35cm. any info would be great Attached Images

11th October 2015, 11:57 PM	#3
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,184	my iklwa haft is about 7/8" just behind the head wire braiding, tapering up to a much wider far end. all the kwaZulu iklwas i have seen have a small notch where the curved spear edge meets the tang, and this transition is very close to where it enters the haft. besides wire braid re-enforcement, they also used as an alternate, a sleeve made of a cows tail skin tube which shrink dries on the end. i cannot tell if these also have the notch. bigger photos would help. zulu throwing spears were longer, and had longer tangs on the head, the blade/tang/notch could be a substatial number of inches from the haft end. the hafts were also in general much longer, tho they could have been cut down for transport back to the UK. shortening a throwing spear does not make it an iklwa. there are of course some variations in dimensions as they were hand made items, many made by conquered tribes who supplied the zulus with weapons as tribute. they also may have used them. the bantu xohsa were more than just the kwaZulu. Attached Images Last edited by kronckew; 12th October 2015 at 12:17 AM.

11th October 2015, 10:41 AM	#2
colin henshaw Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,430	They could be Zulu, but could equally be from one of the other tribal groups in the area. The knobkerrie looks Swazi, with that grooving to the offset head .