Choils and "Spanish Notches" on Ethnographic weapons

[Ian]

In a recent thread relating to the edged weapons of the Tinguian people of Northern Luzon, I commented on the use of a small notch at forte on the Tinguian blades and mused about whether these may be related to the finger notches seen on some Spanish and Spanish colonial knives (the so-called "Spanish Notch"). Alan Maisey was quick to inform me (correctly) that these were choils used to aid in sharpening the blade and to help avoid damage to the guard, ferrule, or handle during that process.

Alan went on to say

"... The Spanish Notch is usually found in a similar position to the choil, but although it may be similar to a choil, and can also be used to indicate the point at which sharpening should begin, it is not a choil. The Spanish Notch appears to have its origins in mediaeval left hand daggers, it continued as a design element in the line of large knives that followed the left hand dagger and in these knives it eventually developed into a decorative feature.

In modern custom knives the Spanish Notch is sometimes included as a decorative element, I very much doubt if most custom makers have any understanding of its origins or original purpose."

In my experience it is unusual to find a choil on a Filipino knife but illustrations of Tinguain knives from early in the 20th C. show this as a consistent feature. One does occasionally see the Spanish Notch on Visayan knives (notably the plamingko).

Elsewhere in the former Spanish colonial network one occasionally sees the Spanish Notch. The Canary Island knife is a good example, and one finds it occasionally on Chilean corvo, and (more commonly I think) on various punales, cuchillos, etc. from Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. I'm not sure if I have seen an example of the Notch on Mexican or Central American knives. While there may be some Spanish patrimony in the appearance of the Spanish Notch in some Spanish colonial knives, Alan is of the opinion, and I agree, that parallel development may play a role in the widespread use of choils among diverse groups who have little direct contact with each other.

I have attached some pictures showing, first, drawings of the Tinguian knives that started this discussion, followed by Visayan plamingko, a Canary Island knife, and several South American knives.

I would be interested to hear about the use of choils by other ethnographic groups (apart from Europeans) and where the Spanish Notch has been observed. Please remember that this is the Ethnographic Forum and focus your observations on non-European edged weapons (otherwise the European Armory will commandeer the thread ).


Ian.

• Figure showing Tinguian knives with choils
• A Canary Island knife
• Two Visayan plamingko
• A Chilean corvo
• Two Argentinian knives (punal criollo)