Unknown spear head for discussion
 

Hi
I just purchased the attached spear head and it is alluding me as to what and where it is from. I have trawled the forum and found nothing alike.

Overall it is A very very well made item
The blade shows some lamination flaws and it is v v sharp all down both edges, the tip has a bit of damage but it is still v sharp
I have not cleaned the item but there is no pitting in the metal and overall it is in excellent condition I generally do not clean items as long as there is no active rust

It’s specs overall
length tip to end of socket 35 inches or 89cm
Blade length 27 inches or 77cm
Blade width at widest is 1 and 1/4 inch or 40mm
Blade thickness is a v slight 1/4 inch or 6mm, practically wafer thin

It is springy like a sword blade
The socket has a piece of timber remaining in it and it has ten facets ( ie it is not round but comprised of 10 flats,) the diameter of the hole for the timber is 15mm

There is some copper wire decoration where the shaft meets the blade

To me the copper looks like semi African decoration but the quality of all the rest of the work does not look African

No other decoration

So does anyone have any opinion on age or origin, no back ground story came with a 1796 light cavilary Sabre.

Thanks for looking

Ken

Looks Masai to me. Definitely Africa for sure, at least Kenya.

Its from Somalia. The faceted socket and shape to the head are distinctive.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/researc...7c39681&page=1

http://www.britishmuseum.org/researc...7c39681&page=1

Thanks guys
Not a shape I had seen before
Here it is beside my Kenyan lion spear for sake of comparison
Regards
Ken

Interesting - so nearly from the spike of the Horn of Africa (Dolbahanta). Thank you Iain.

No problem, I suspect the attribution in the British museum to that location is simply the point of collection and may not necessarily indicate it is actually made there.

This Beja man is carrying a spear that looks to be of similar form although a much shorter blade.