Three spears for comment

Henk · 26th December 2005, 12:12 PM

Justin and Battara,

You guys are completely right. I've been stupid and ignorant. I just looked through the book by Van Zonneveld and guess what? Just search the page with spears and you know enough. The most beautiful examples in wich the first two spears just lovely would fit in. Those two probably come from Sumatra or Borneo.

Thanks again guys for opening my eyes.

Has anybody still an idea about the third one? The spear mouth, if i may call it that way, is wrapped with copper wire.

Justin · 26th December 2005, 04:26 PM

Glad to help,

.

The third one is tricky. The barbs make me think its African,and it may well be,but overall it seems Indonesian as well,if you bought it with the other two then I would suspect it may be from the same place as the first two.

They definately had barbed spears next door in the Philippines:

http://www.aiusa.com/medsword/rila/krieger.html

Tim Simmons · 26th December 2005, 04:34 PM

I would tend to agree with Justin, although one might at first glance think Africa, I am not sure. In the dark back of my mind I think I have seen a picture of something very similar but cannot quite think where. I think it is very nice. Tim

Battara · 27th December 2005, 05:18 AM

The 2 reasons I would vote for Africa for the last one is:

a) the barbs and they manner they are pointed
b) as opposed to many Indonesian and Philippine spears and weapons, Africans make more use of pure copper and copper coil wrap

BTW - the spears that do have barbs from the Philippines are from the Igorot tribes of Luzon and point in one direction.

Henk · 27th December 2005, 02:30 PM

Yes, the link shows barbed spears with the barbs in the same direction indeed.

I bought the spears together with some sumatran pieces, but also the yagathan I showed in another thread and that possible Phillipine dagger was in the buy and a kukri. It was a bit of a mix.

The haft of our "african" spear becomes thicker after 20 cm. The middle part is 82 cm long and ends in a thicker end of 26 cm. I think the haft is bambu although it hasn't the bambu knots. But color and feeling of the wood gives me the idea of bambu and it looks like the tree parts are stuck into each other and are attached very firmly. The haft is old and not a recent replacement.

26th December 2005, 12:12 PM	#1
Henk Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,209	Justin and Battara, You guys are completely right. I've been stupid and ignorant. I just looked through the book by Van Zonneveld and guess what? Just search the page with spears and you know enough. The most beautiful examples in wich the first two spears just lovely would fit in. Those two probably come from Sumatra or Borneo. Thanks again guys for opening my eyes. Has anybody still an idea about the third one? The spear mouth, if i may call it that way, is wrapped with copper wire.

26th December 2005, 04:26 PM	#2
Justin Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 175	Glad to help, . The third one is tricky. The barbs make me think its African,and it may well be,but overall it seems Indonesian as well,if you bought it with the other two then I would suspect it may be from the same place as the first two. They definately had barbed spears next door in the Philippines: http://www.aiusa.com/medsword/rila/krieger.html

26th December 2005, 04:34 PM	#3
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,790	I would tend to agree with Justin, although one might at first glance think Africa, I am not sure. In the dark back of my mind I think I have seen a picture of something very similar but cannot quite think where. I think it is very nice. Tim

27th December 2005, 05:18 AM	#4
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,205	The 2 reasons I would vote for Africa for the last one is: a) the barbs and they manner they are pointed b) as opposed to many Indonesian and Philippine spears and weapons, Africans make more use of pure copper and copper coil wrap BTW - the spears that do have barbs from the Philippines are from the Igorot tribes of Luzon and point in one direction.

27th December 2005, 02:30 PM	#5
Henk Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,209	Yes, the link shows barbed spears with the barbs in the same direction indeed. I bought the spears together with some sumatran pieces, but also the yagathan I showed in another thread and that possible Phillipine dagger was in the buy and a kukri. It was a bit of a mix. The haft of our "african" spear becomes thicker after 20 cm. The middle part is 82 cm long and ends in a thicker end of 26 cm. I think the haft is bambu although it hasn't the bambu knots. But color and feeling of the wood gives me the idea of bambu and it looks like the tree parts are stuck into each other and are attached very firmly. The haft is old and not a recent replacement.