Two West African swords/cutlasses for I.D.

[colin henshaw]

Thanks to those who have input on these swords so far.

Thinking about them a bit more, I suppose they could have just as well been used by the Mende with influences from Dahomey weapons, as much as the reverse..

On the other hand .. the swords are heavy and robust with sharpened edges. Without being melodramatic, they swing well in the hand particularly with the extra weight towards the blade tip, in fact they seem just right for decapitation purposes ! Seemingly this was regularly done to captives (and criminals) by victorious Dahomey warriors.

Here are some images from the internet, as well as an image of the hilt of a Mende sword I posted a while back, for reference.

If anyone else has more to add about these swords, please do so.