Very Unusual Marks

[Jim McDougall]

As always, it is my pleasure Stephen, and again, I very much appreciate you posting these fascinating kaskaras. You seem to find anomalies that really help expand the boundaries of exposure to variations and present oppotunities to learn more on them.

Well placed note on the inclusion of these on the European Forum, and the profound presence of European blades on these and many North African swords was one of the driving factors in adding a European subforum.
Just as Dr. Briggs was compelled to write his article in 1965 on this phenomenon, these swords have ironically become an important ancillary source for the study of many European markings.

The 'eyelash' mark is of course also known as the 'sickle' mark and occurs in many variations, some dentated, some are not. The familiar parallel position of these in pairs is most recognizable in regions which adopted these from Italian trade blades and use by local smiths in other centers and cultures.

The best sources to see variations on these semi circular markings is in "The Wallace Collection" (Sir James Mann, 1962), and "Armi Bianchi Italiene" (Boccia & Coelho, 1975). Here these markings can be seen in composite arrangements which vary greatly in positions and use of a number of the commonly seen markings.

The 'fly' markings are often also called the 'twig' marks by Mann, and also occur in many variations and groupings. It is certainly possible these may have been applied in a European setting, while the six point star does not seem likely to have been. Perhaps they may have been applied in such position to correspond to the 'scale' markings if they were already present, but close examination to compare both sets of markings would need to be done.

If done contemporarily, then the idea of the scales symbolism I had noted might seem worthy of consideration.

So as often is the case with many ethnographic weapons, viewing the entire weapon with both perspectives in mind is the most constructive method.

All the best,
Jim