THE REAL DEAL!

Jim McDougall · 12th August 2007, 08:09 PM

Although this might have been just another example of blatant misidentification as often seen on many items that appear on ebay it evidences the unbelievable unfamiliarity with weapons by the general public. It seems with the computer search potential that a simple effort would at least give people the idea of where to look further.

While obviously the description exceeds the basic fantasy material, it is interesting to see one of these Nilotic kaskaras, and thankfully it actually went for a reasonable price without a frenzy thinking this was Excalibur!!

I have often wondered if these crocodile hide covered weapons actually were mounted contemporarily with some sort of totemic value observed by tribal warriors, or whether these were produced to satisfy curious tourists of the post-Mahdist period. In efforts to discuss the use of crocodile hide and the possibilities of such association over the years, the results were consistantly disappointing, and in some cases produced unwarranted negativity.

In discussions with one young man who had come from Darfur, he did note that use of the totemic associations with feared animals was indeed in some degree practiced among warriors and would explain such use of crocodile etc. That is of course just one note from one person, though well qualified.I have seen examples of kaskara mounted much like this but with much older and formidable blades, suggesting mounting of 19th c. The example I refer to had hilt mounts consistant with those found on Darfur weapons (Briggs).The blade on this example seems more likely 20th c.

While continued discussion on this topic would be interesting and always hopefully productive, I realize it is as noted, unlikely. Regardless, I thought I would add these notes for anyone interested in furthering what we know about these intriguing examples of kaskara.

With best regards,
Jim

12th August 2007, 08:09 PM	#16
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,289	Although this might have been just another example of blatant misidentification as often seen on many items that appear on ebay it evidences the unbelievable unfamiliarity with weapons by the general public. It seems with the computer search potential that a simple effort would at least give people the idea of where to look further. While obviously the description exceeds the basic fantasy material, it is interesting to see one of these Nilotic kaskaras, and thankfully it actually went for a reasonable price without a frenzy thinking this was Excalibur!! I have often wondered if these crocodile hide covered weapons actually were mounted contemporarily with some sort of totemic value observed by tribal warriors, or whether these were produced to satisfy curious tourists of the post-Mahdist period. In efforts to discuss the use of crocodile hide and the possibilities of such association over the years, the results were consistantly disappointing, and in some cases produced unwarranted negativity. In discussions with one young man who had come from Darfur, he did note that use of the totemic associations with feared animals was indeed in some degree practiced among warriors and would explain such use of crocodile etc. That is of course just one note from one person, though well qualified.I have seen examples of kaskara mounted much like this but with much older and formidable blades, suggesting mounting of 19th c. The example I refer to had hilt mounts consistant with those found on Darfur weapons (Briggs).The blade on this example seems more likely 20th c. While continued discussion on this topic would be interesting and always hopefully productive, I realize it is as noted, unlikely. Regardless, I thought I would add these notes for anyone interested in furthering what we know about these intriguing examples of kaskara. With best regards, Jim