Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

William V. · 18th July 2009, 11:44 PM

Hello there,

normally I'm not into this kind of thing but the thread was too interesting for just rummaging through it

The trident-thesis is quite fascinating, but I'm not sure if these marks could have been made by any form of weapon. Don't want to spoil the show, but I doubt that any hand-held weapon could do that kind of damage...

a) Imagine the setting: A spanish soldier is in close-quarters with a native let's say Indian fighter who is using his trident to stab at the soldier. He must use an awful lot of power and speed to procure this kind of punctures. Because normally the metal would either bend inwards (three spikes transferring its energy on a broad area) or the trident would just scrape the metal (which should leave visible scratches). The last case might not happen if the Indian is stabbing at an angle close to 90 degrees in regard to the breastplate. But referring to the sketches this seems unprobable.

b) The form of the punctures also speaks against a battle damage. There are two sets with 3 marks each, which are nearly paralell.... the Indian must have had good eyes to execute the second stab just to get this design

And now comes the really hard part:

I must admit I have no other explanation

All the best

William

P.S. Perhaps some kind of marking that the piece was sorted out of the regular armoury equipment. Similar to the X used by the english
War Departement to mark gund which are to be sold to civilian distributors...

18th July 2009, 11:44 PM	#22
William V. Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 33	Hello there, normally I'm not into this kind of thing but the thread was too interesting for just rummaging through it The trident-thesis is quite fascinating, but I'm not sure if these marks could have been made by any form of weapon. Don't want to spoil the show, but I doubt that any hand-held weapon could do that kind of damage... a) Imagine the setting: A spanish soldier is in close-quarters with a native let's say Indian fighter who is using his trident to stab at the soldier. He must use an awful lot of power and speed to procure this kind of punctures. Because normally the metal would either bend inwards (three spikes transferring its energy on a broad area) or the trident would just scrape the metal (which should leave visible scratches). The last case might not happen if the Indian is stabbing at an angle close to 90 degrees in regard to the breastplate. But referring to the sketches this seems unprobable. b) The form of the punctures also speaks against a battle damage. There are two sets with 3 marks each, which are nearly paralell.... the Indian must have had good eyes to execute the second stab just to get this design And now comes the really hard part: I must admit I have no other explanation All the best William P.S. Perhaps some kind of marking that the piece was sorted out of the regular armoury equipment. Similar to the X used by the english War Departement to mark gund which are to be sold to civilian distributors...