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Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
... How did the knives develop ? Maybe from a tool like a grape knife? ...
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"The exact origin of the Chilean Corvo cannot yet be clarified. Some authors speculate that it could be related to a white weapon brought by the first Spanish conquerors, the Janyar, a curved short sword of Arab origin that had entered the Iberian Peninsula after the invasion of the Moors. Be that as it may, the Corvo would be a widely used instrument in our country in colonial times, especially by the so-called "Chilean Roto" (the gañán, huaso, miner or cattle worker) for their work tasks and also as a defense weapo. Carlos López Urrutia, in his book “The Pacific War: 1879-1884 ″, explains that, "the famous Chilean Corvo was not a military weapon, but was usually used by agricultural workers and miners, as it was a very useful tool for the performance of their work ”.