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Originally Posted by chevalier
i know the yakuts where a horsed people, but i never knew if they ever had metal weapons or not.
does anyone have any representations of weaponry used by the yakuts, yukaghirs, oirats, ect.?
ive been curious for a while as to weather certain siberian peoples knew metallurgy and could fashion swords/knives, ect or if they just continued to rely on stone/wood/bone weapons up to the russian conquest era.
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ah.. the yakuts and most other siberian natives had a good understanding of metal and steel working before contact with the russians , and remember these areas were being controled by mongolian and before other nomadic peoles for a long time , aswell as the fact that producing steel weapons has been know for several thousand years in this area..
any people who live from butchering animals will rather soon find carbonated iron becomes steel and steel works better than copper or bronze as a knife..
ther eis some unique weapons used specificaly by the yakuts...
the yakuts liked specificaly body armor.. both plate armor and chain mail was common for a very long time ,
for the poorer men leather and copper were used..
helmets were also a common item..
there was use of some styles of lance as used by the tuvans and mongols and altai... but i think this was not native. and came further from the south.
the yakuts liked to laminate their weapons and tools blades. and most would be of two sheets of inferior steel and one of hard brittle steel in the center.
the palam... a long pole wepon was an itme that every yakut man would normaly posses , it was like a european glave ,, and was used in about the same way ,
stabing , chopping and hooking, the fighting techniques were about as the ones used in europe also ,
normaly striking the legs on a armored opponent to slow to cripple them and then impailing them when they were unable to move.
this item was normal sharpened on all sides ,, it was also used for cutting branches , and for bear hunting and defence while in the forest..
this weapons was later used by the invading russians particulary among the cossaks
one specific technique the yakuts used was to stab the opponenet and then drive them off their feet ,
generaly this was a most "yakut" of weapons , being frequently seen among them ,
sabers were less common and were mostly for the rich.. and the styles were in common with the people in the altai , long curved small steel guard,,
normaly with the "palam" was also a large knife like a machete,, normaly about 2 kfeet long , looking like a giant puukko .. this was used as a tool and a weapon , also smaller knives , as the finnish puuko were used in combination with this..
the palam and the bow and this long knife were them primary weapons in combat.
axes also were common and popular aswell as various iron headed maces , nets and darts