Two bolos from the Mangyan on Mindoro
 

Hello dear members,

I want to show you two bolos from one of the Mangyan tribes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangyan) on Mindoro which I've purchased from an older gentleman who lived on Mindoro in Viktoria from 2005 until 2010 and bought this bolos from the tribes when they passed his house or when he meet them at the market from Viktoria when they come down from the Mount Halcon. So are this bolos recent working bolos and not old or antique but IMHO very interesting ethnograhic items and since never before are bolos from the Mangyan are shown at this place I want to show them to people who may have interest to see them. ;)

The smaller one is 45 cm long inside scabbard, 42,5 cm without and has a somewhat better forged blade.
The longer one is 47 cm inside scabbard and 46,5 cm without.

Here are two pictures from Mangyan tribes man who carry such bolos and a map from Mindoro.

Great find! These are all-purpose blades, and are correctly classified as bolos.

Thank you Xas. :) I just get the information that they coming from the sub tribe called Alangan.

Best regards,
Detlef

A sub-tribe in Mindoro, really interesting. Their culture has been neglected for way too long. Thanks to social media and collectors like you, social media is helping increase their mileage =) on another note, there hasn't been a comprehensive study of Mindoro weapons yet. It promises to be an interesting venture.

Thank you Xas but I wasn't aware that there are several sub-tribes until I read the wikipedia link I've provided in up. ;) :D
And yes, it would be most interesting to know if there antique weapons from the Mangyan tribes. :shrug: You are very close, wouldn't it be something for you to look for and do some research? ;) :cool:

Best regards,
Detlef

Oh yes lots of sub cultures to the common tribes. Another example is the Tinguian whom I’ve been told is a sub group of the Kalinga.m

And Xasterix is right - hardly anything is known about Mangyan weaponry or battle strategy.

I wish I could, Detlef, but that particular region (which also includes another blade-rich area, Palawan) is out of my scope at the moment (I live in Manila). Even the usual blade surveyors have yet to gain a foothold there. I'm betting that there are some nice blade samples there that haven't yet been proliferated on social media, just like how some Northern Luzon blades have stayed out of the radar. Will let you know if a piece or two happens to...stray across my path!