The Knife, Sacrifice and Meaning

[Emanuel]

Hello Tim,
The Indian knife looks like a Mopla knife, but it could be agricultural. I guess the beaheading is beast done by concave edges - as demonstrated by khukri and kora in Nepal - so the mopla was chosen to behead the goat simply for its effectiveness...maybe.
I'm thinking that the degree of spirituality or specialty attributeds to the knife varies depending on the context: a relatively poor society or group may use any available tool, while a richer one may use specifically designated (maybe blessed/sanctified?) blades.

Vandoo, could the handles themselves act as deities? I mean could they be used separate from the blade, simply as devotional sculptures/amulets? That leads me to ask "how different is a handle from a sacrificial knife from a statue, if at all?" For example, I have a little tourist statue from Mexico, carved in soapstone, that looks a lot like the knife posted by Tim.

Emanuel