Very old ? Zulu Assegai

[katana]

Hi,
just acquired a Zulu assegia, shaft is shortened either by damage in use or possibly a shortened 'bring back' ( Officers had the privilages of being able to take home larger pieces....lower ranks had to pack their souveniers with their own items, so often spears were shortened to take up less space).
The 'break' is very old either way.

The wire work is predominately iron ....with 'bands' of thicker brass wire-work between. The Zulu stabbing spear was held fairly close to the spearhead ...giving a 'working length' of approx. 24" (dependant on individual preference) The patina on the shaft clearly shows the constant handling at this point
Effectively the spear would be used as a thrusting short sword ...and perhaps explains the lack of swords in Zulu culture.

Judging by the patina and the use of iron wire I believe this is possibly early/mid 19th C .

Any comments or input would be gratefully recieved, thank you

Regards David