Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Another theoretical question: what are those Central African swords used for anyway?

fearn · 15th May 2005, 08:10 PM

Hi Tom and Montino,

as to A), I'm not surprised about the club. Wood's generally cheap, even in places like England where all the forest land is owned and in production. The one thing I'd correct is the $20,000 sword. I think this came from the idea that a sword was worth a year's worth of wages to a peasant. In 1990's terms, a peasant earned $10-20,000 (they're called temps), and I think this is where the $20,000 idea came from. Personally, I think the better stand in for a medieval peasant is a third world peasant farmer, who gets by on $1/day. This means that swords cost about $365. If you look at what we're paying for swords these days, I'd say the cost hasn't changed much in a thousand years.

I'd also point out that, the more expensive metal is, the more of a status symbol a metal weapon such as a sword becomes.

So far as the spear goes, I'll simply agree with what was written above. I think most people have a bias against spears, and tend to ignore the diversity of these weapons.

Fearn

15th May 2005, 08:10 PM	#44
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Hi Tom and Montino, as to A), I'm not surprised about the club. Wood's generally cheap, even in places like England where all the forest land is owned and in production. The one thing I'd correct is the $20,000 sword. I think this came from the idea that a sword was worth a year's worth of wages to a peasant. In 1990's terms, a peasant earned $10-20,000 (they're called temps), and I think this is where the $20,000 idea came from. Personally, I think the better stand in for a medieval peasant is a third world peasant farmer, who gets by on $1/day. This means that swords cost about $365. If you look at what we're paying for swords these days, I'd say the cost hasn't changed much in a thousand years. I'd also point out that, the more expensive metal is, the more of a status symbol a metal weapon such as a sword becomes. So far as the spear goes, I'll simply agree with what was written above. I think most people have a bias against spears, and tend to ignore the diversity of these weapons. Fearn