What's going on here (Batak)?

[kai]

Hello Detlef,

I agree that the hilt looks like a later replacement and doesn't show the best carving. But the nice silver ferrule seems to be made for this hilt.

Quite possibly - however, traditional silver/gold smithing survived for much longer time since jewellery enjoyed continued interest within Christianized culture.

And then the brittle resin which was removed from Jeff.
It takes time for the resin or cutler's resin to get brittle.

The time frame I'm suggesting (around 100 years) should allow for some ageing, especially if starting with a recipe for filling cavities rather than a more elastic mix for setting functional blades.

Keep the resin and have a C14 analysis done, Jeff!

Regards,
Kai