Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
This is an atavistic weapon intended as something prestigious and likely a votive element for ceremonial or traditional presence.
I have seen similar examples with this peaked pommel hilt instead of the horned or cleft types, and these dramatically parabolic blades are primarily embellishments, not pragmatically intended.
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Marius66 if you look closely at the convex edge you can see the awl marks from the entrustment procedures. So, it was never sharpened again after manufacture. With the decoration so close to the edge you would need to sharpen at an incredibly acute angle, probably meeting at 90 degrees, 45 degrees or more of an angle from the sharpening stone. If used a very durable edge roughly the edge of a non-race tuned ski, but not very sharp. The concave edge looks to be ground to have for lack of a better term a yelman. As Ian said you would have to examine it to see if it was ever sharpened, but since the primary edge was never maintained the false edge probably wasn't either.
I would like the see a picture of the edge around the center of percussion. In some ways this reminds me of some of the ceremonial knives in Elgood's
Hindu Arms and Ritual in terms of practicality as a weapon.