reference for Philippine weapons?

Ian · 11th January 2017, 03:57 AM

Hi Marcus:

Unfortunately, there is no single reference like van Zonneveld's that deals with the weapons of the Philippines. Robert Cato's book on Moro Swords is the most comprehensive account to date of the Moro weapons, but critics have pointed to inaccuracies and it does not deal with quite a lot of weapons, such as spears, shields, armor, and less common edged weapons. This book has become very hard to find and is out of print--the odd copy that shows up is expensive.

The hardest weapons to get information about are those of the native tribal groups. Many of these groups live in remote areas and often in relatively small numbers. As a result we don't often see their weapons on the market, but what we do see are weapons from minority groups that are close to population centers (Bagobo, Tagakaolu, T'boli, Aeta [Negrito], Ilonggo, Waray, Cebuano, Ifugao, Bontoc, etc.).

There is some useful information on the History of Steel web site, including examples of non-Moro weapons, which can be found here: http://www.arscives.com/historysteel...nes.swords.htm

An early 20th C. edition of National Geographic also had some useful information and showed hand colored pictures of native groups with their weapons. Some of those pictures were also in the Krieger article referenced by Jim McDougall. I don't recall the exact number--perhaps someone can post that reference.

Otherwise, I think this site and its archives have some very helpful information as well as excellent pictures of weapons from all over the Philippines. Just recently we identified a knife of mine that Robert found a reference to showing it was an Aeta (Pinatubo Negrito) knife of unusual form. It's a matter of piecing things together from various sources.

Regards,

Ian.

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11th January 2017, 03:57 AM	#3
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,361	Hi Marcus: Unfortunately, there is no single reference like van Zonneveld's that deals with the weapons of the Philippines. Robert Cato's book on Moro Swords is the most comprehensive account to date of the Moro weapons, but critics have pointed to inaccuracies and it does not deal with quite a lot of weapons, such as spears, shields, armor, and less common edged weapons. This book has become very hard to find and is out of print--the odd copy that shows up is expensive. The hardest weapons to get information about are those of the native tribal groups. Many of these groups live in remote areas and often in relatively small numbers. As a result we don't often see their weapons on the market, but what we do see are weapons from minority groups that are close to population centers (Bagobo, Tagakaolu, T'boli, Aeta [Negrito], Ilonggo, Waray, Cebuano, Ifugao, Bontoc, etc.). There is some useful information on the History of Steel web site, including examples of non-Moro weapons, which can be found here: http://www.arscives.com/historysteel...nes.swords.htm An early 20th C. edition of National Geographic also had some useful information and showed hand colored pictures of native groups with their weapons. Some of those pictures were also in the Krieger article referenced by Jim McDougall. I don't recall the exact number--perhaps someone can post that reference. Otherwise, I think this site and its archives have some very helpful information as well as excellent pictures of weapons from all over the Philippines. Just recently we identified a knife of mine that Robert found a reference to showing it was an Aeta (Pinatubo Negrito) knife of unusual form. It's a matter of piecing things together from various sources. Regards, Ian.