Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

kronckew · 11th October 2015, 10:57 PM

my iklwa haft is about 7/8" just behind the head wire braiding, tapering up to a much wider far end.

all the kwaZulu iklwas i have seen have a small notch where the curved spear edge meets the tang, and this transition is very close to where it enters the haft. besides wire braid re-enforcement, they also used as an alternate, a sleeve made of a cows tail skin tube which shrink dries on the end.

i cannot tell if these also have the notch. bigger photos would help. zulu throwing spears were longer, and had longer tangs on the head, the blade/tang/notch could be a substatial number of inches from the haft end. the hafts were also in general much longer, tho they could have been cut down for transport back to the UK. shortening a throwing spear does not make it an iklwa. there are of course some variations in dimensions as they were hand made items, many made by conquered tribes who supplied the zulus with weapons as tribute. they also may have used them. the bantu xohsa were more than just the kwaZulu.

11th October 2015, 10:57 PM	#3
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,216	my iklwa haft is about 7/8" just behind the head wire braiding, tapering up to a much wider far end. all the kwaZulu iklwas i have seen have a small notch where the curved spear edge meets the tang, and this transition is very close to where it enters the haft. besides wire braid re-enforcement, they also used as an alternate, a sleeve made of a cows tail skin tube which shrink dries on the end. i cannot tell if these also have the notch. bigger photos would help. zulu throwing spears were longer, and had longer tangs on the head, the blade/tang/notch could be a substatial number of inches from the haft end. the hafts were also in general much longer, tho they could have been cut down for transport back to the UK. shortening a throwing spear does not make it an iklwa. there are of course some variations in dimensions as they were hand made items, many made by conquered tribes who supplied the zulus with weapons as tribute. they also may have used them. the bantu xohsa were more than just the kwaZulu. Attached Images Last edited by kronckew; 11th October 2015 at 11:17 PM.