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Old 3rd March 2006, 05:40 PM   #9
Freddy
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium)
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Arrow

Luc, according to the book 'African Arms and Armour' by Christopher Spring, there are more types of Maasai spear.

This is what he writes in his book :

The graded system of Maasai society is reflected by the four distinct types of spear commonly used by them. The uncircumcised boys usually carry a javelin-like spear, esururu, made out of one piece of rounded iron, sometimes with a leather hand grip bound around the centre. The head is sometimes hammered into an oval shape but often left straight. The butt is usually of square section.

A couple of years ago, I happened to stumble onto such a spear. Here are some pics :







This is not some kind of ceremonial item. It has a real good balance and is fairly heavy (all iron). I think it would do quite some damage when thrown at something or someone.

The total length is approx 1m80 (72 inches)
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