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Originally Posted by xasterix
... To my knowledge, most of the weapons that the Tinguians possessed were acquired via barter, usually from Ilocos Norte. There were certain weapons produced, however, that were distinctly Tinguian-made, and this is identifiable via the scabbard and hilt (which is not the case with this sample, there's no distinct Tinguian signature). ...
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Hi Xas,
A quick comment on the Tinguian based on the anthropological studies of Fay-Cooper Cole who lived among them in 1907-1908 and later published his work in the U.S. I've written
here about his work before. Cole has reproduced in line drawings the knives he observed during that visit, and I showed the relevant figures in my
post. It is possible that these were obtained by trade with Ilocos Norte, but one of the blades is of the
katana form and I think you have said previously that the Ilocos Norte smiths did not produce this style. As to the ability of Tinguians to produce knives and other edged weapons, the following comment also comes from Cole:
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The blades are by no means of equal temper or perfection, but the smiths of the Tinguian-Kalinga border villages seldom turn out poor weapons, and as a result, their spears and head-axes have a wide distribution over northwestern Luzon.
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Perhaps current standards have fallen compared with a century ago.
Ian