Origin of the Kalinga Axe

[migueldiaz]

Radleigh's Head Axe... A good one? revived my interest on the origin of the northern Luzon head-axe.

From Fay-Cooper Cole's 1922 book on the Tinguians [aka Itnegs], an upland tribe which shares the Cordillera mountain range with the Igorots:

While the axe is primarily a weapon, its use is by no means confined to warfare. It is used in house and fence building, in cutting up game and forest products, and in many other ways. Fig. 8 [below] shows three types of head-axes, the first two, the Tinguian-Kalinga axe; third, the Igorot; fourth, the Apayao. There is a noticeable difference between the slender blades of the first group and the short, thick blade of the Igorot, yet they are of the same general type. The Apayao weapon, on the other hand, presents a radical difference in form. Despite these variations, the axes of these three tribes present an interesting problem. So far as it known, these are the only tribes in the Philippines which make use of a head-axe, and it is believed that no similar weapon is found in the Malayan Islands. However, blades of striking resemblance do occur among the Naga of Assam [10]. It is possible that the weapons of these far separated regions may hark back to a common source, from which they received their instruction in iron working.

xxx

[10] Egerton, Handbook of Indian Arms (Wm. Allen and Co., London, 1880), p. 84; Shakespear, History of Upper Assam, Burma and Northeastern Frontier (MacMillan, London, 1914), p. 197, illustration.

Clearly, the book cited is an old one (1922). On the other hand, so far it still looks like that the northern Luzon head-axe is an original form, endemic strictly to northern Luzon ...

Unless evidence to the contrary is uncovered ...