Good points Charles. Cross-cultural pieces are indeed fascinating and again speak to diffusion of styles among different cultures that reflect other sociological/anthropological interactions. It would be a great addition to the forum, I think, if we had some social scientists participating here who could speak to some of these cross-cultural influences.
We also get a lot of information about changes in a particular weapon over time by discovering "transition pieces," those that seem to fall between two identified forms of the same weapon, within the same culture. We had an example on the Forum just recently in a discussion on Tunisian daggers (
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=20240).
While many of us tend to focus on the blade of an edged weapon as its main defining feature, there is important information too from a study of guards, hilts, scabbards, belts and other suspension devices. Although such fittings may be replaced over time, they can tell a lot about the particular culture in which that weapon was used or re-used.
For those who collect antique firearms, I'm sure there are similar approaches and issues to address. Those topics are way outside my comfort zone so I'll let others comment on firearms research.
Ian.
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Originally Posted by CharlesS
My interest in cross cultural items from throughout the Islamic world often comes with very little research done on it. That's why it is important for me to know at least something of the weapons of a variety of cultures...at the very least enough to recognize the very nature of the "cultures crossed" by some unique piece.
I think it is both fun and important to record the seemingly endless possibilities, and that's why I do it here.
For me it's all about accumulating as many pics as possible...old catalogs, old photos, old auctions, web sites, and of course old and new books.
I can remember a debate on here some years ago regarding the origins of what we now call the "Black Sea yataghan". Essentially one photo in one Russian publication about 10 years ago ended the debate! Pics as well as info are essential...no matter how old or seemingly out of context they may be.
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