[Nathaniel]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

The poor old keris.

Everybody wants a piece of him.

Guess that's what happens when you become a Rock Star --- everybody wants to claim you for their own.

Russell Crowe is an Aussie, John Lennon was a Canadian, and Bob Dylan was born in Ireland --- betcha didn't know all that, didja?

The keris originated in the Dong Son Culture?

The Dong Son culture was a bronze age culture that existed from about 1000BC to about the beginning of the Current Era.

Bronze age.

They were skilled bronze casters, and they made little cast bronze daggers with figural hilts, not dissimilar in form to the keris sajen ( keris majapahit).

For a long time many people were inclined to believe that the Modern Keris, that is, the keris in the form that we accept now as a keris, originated from the keris sajen:- they believed that the keris sajen was the earliest form of keris. The principal evidence in support of this theory was the finding of a keris sajen under one of the stupas of the Borobudur.

It is possible that there is a similar concept at work in the fabric that supported the Dong Son bronze age dagger, and that still supports the keris sajen, however, this must at the present time be considered as a separate development.

Rather than the keris sajen giving birth to the modern keris, it is much more likely that the keris sajen came upon the scene later than the keris in its modern form.

All the evidence that has been produced to date places the origin of the keris firmly in the early classical period of Jawa, that is, Central Jawa, pre-1000AD.

The keris in its modern form appears certain to have developed in East Jawa during the period 1000AD to about 1400AD.

During the 14th -15th centuries, the dominant culture in maritime south east Asia was the Majapahit culture. This culture established trade links and political alliances all over S.E.Asia. It is logically probable that given the iconic position of the keris in Majapahit culture, this same culture was primarily responsible for the spread of the keris throughout S.E. Asia.

Thanks for the quick history...I definitely need to read more on the histories of SEA in addition to the few counties I primarily collect from....has anyone read Southeast Asian Warfare, 1300-1900 by Michael Charney? It's one that looks interesting...but expensive.