metal weapons and tools in the pacific

ausjulius · 14th September 2008, 11:56 PM

this has interested me for some time,
i am interested in the metalic weapons and tools, of the pacific, mostly the weapons,

so far i've seen very few metal weapons from this area,
has anyone any information or pictures,

ive read the hawaiians developed iron working very quickly and were after afew years after contact producing forged iron and steel products in a european style,, did they make weapons of their own style or did they purchase any of these they needed from traders.

is micronesia in the areas with spanish contact, they had regional styles of their own and used a european technique to forge iron tools.
as the chomorro knives are a good sxsample, seems in their costume and tools is a strong mexican influence.. and actualy little or no philipino influence,, although alot of the population seem to be decended from philipinos brought there over time..
i guess alot more were then decended from mexicans, and also spanish
and no doubt the native population would make up a large part of the population , so there is no doubt some of their native concepts intertwined in their metal working ,

but what other area aside from guam has any native inron weapons in the pacific,

ive seen in a book on tonga many years ago some images for a public event in the 1960s ,, there was shown some men of higher rank in trandional dress with traditional weapons and in one image a man caw brandishing a sword-like item , the handle being about 45cm long and the blade about 6o cm long the weapon ending in a tip curling like a fern leaf tip when it is young,, the handle was wrapped with cane bands and was pinned on,,

it did not look like it was made of a commercial trade item but localy made,

ive also seen some modern made weapons from west papua,, they were looking like long double edged swords with flaired blades and carved wooden handles and sheaths,,
they looked recent.. dont know where they were from but that they were west papuan , they were rather odd proably some single individual who had learned blacksmithing and had decided to make some weapons i guess.

ive also seen the odd crude made weapons such as ground down bits of iron and hinges used as knives or spears, but these are kust oppertunistic items from scavanged iron and are applied in the way the stone would normaly be used,,

anyone have any information on this area??

14th September 2008, 11:56 PM	#1
ausjulius Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: musorian territory Posts: 424	metal weapons and tools in the pacific this has interested me for some time, i am interested in the metalic weapons and tools, of the pacific, mostly the weapons, so far i've seen very few metal weapons from this area, has anyone any information or pictures, ive read the hawaiians developed iron working very quickly and were after afew years after contact producing forged iron and steel products in a european style,, did they make weapons of their own style or did they purchase any of these they needed from traders. is micronesia in the areas with spanish contact, they had regional styles of their own and used a european technique to forge iron tools. as the chomorro knives are a good sxsample, seems in their costume and tools is a strong mexican influence.. and actualy little or no philipino influence,, although alot of the population seem to be decended from philipinos brought there over time.. i guess alot more were then decended from mexicans, and also spanish and no doubt the native population would make up a large part of the population , so there is no doubt some of their native concepts intertwined in their metal working , but what other area aside from guam has any native inron weapons in the pacific, ive seen in a book on tonga many years ago some images for a public event in the 1960s ,, there was shown some men of higher rank in trandional dress with traditional weapons and in one image a man caw brandishing a sword-like item , the handle being about 45cm long and the blade about 6o cm long the weapon ending in a tip curling like a fern leaf tip when it is young,, the handle was wrapped with cane bands and was pinned on,, it did not look like it was made of a commercial trade item but localy made, ive also seen some modern made weapons from west papua,, they were looking like long double edged swords with flaired blades and carved wooden handles and sheaths,, they looked recent.. dont know where they were from but that they were west papuan , they were rather odd proably some single individual who had learned blacksmithing and had decided to make some weapons i guess. ive also seen the odd crude made weapons such as ground down bits of iron and hinges used as knives or spears, but these are kust oppertunistic items from scavanged iron and are applied in the way the stone would normaly be used,, anyone have any information on this area??