Indonesian sword?

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Kai, Aceh was a bad thought, obviously wrong. Shotgun approach.

I'm quite certain of the "Sumatera" nomination from these runners, people who did not know one another & who are professionals in their field, but the Aceh did not come from them, it was my shotgun.

Maybe Batak might be better?

I do not have many references on this sort of thing, a long time ago I had some mild interest in these various S.E. Asian sharp-pointy things, but that is ancient history, perhaps somebody might come up with some supportive evidence of somewhere.

I wonder if anybody here has read Centini? There is a passage in it where the chief characters are discussing keris, & one of them says something like "lets go to the market & learn about keris". As far as any sort of object of trade is concerned, it is the market-place that holds the answers, people who rely upon knowledge of what they sell in order to earn a living hold all the knowledge, everybody else is on the outside, just looking in through the occasional open window. If the pasar holds the knowledge, it is the finders who supply the pasar.