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Originally Posted by Ann Feuerbach
I can't really add anything. I was in Timbuktu and just asked the Tuareg I was buying a blade from what the markings on his sword meant, because you know I have to ask such things.
 It was a squiggly line down the middle (Niger river) with marks on the side (cities and villages). Would never have guessed it but after he pointed it out, it made sense. |
So it is a map. Fascinating. As artistic expression, this reminds me of the paintings by Aboriginals in the Western Australia desert. With lines, squiggles, dots and circles, the paintings represent "overhead" map-type views of the countryside (locations of food gathering sources, water) or important rituals (women dancing around a campfire).
Are there other designs on ethnographic weapons that could be interpreted this way?