Hi David
I'm actually South African born. Though I don't think I'm on expert on Zulu weapons by any means, the conventional wisdom on the assegai was that it was an innovation by Shaka Zulu himself. Prior to that spears were things that used to get thrown. This was throughout Southern African.
So, I guess, it's not really an explanation of why there are no swords among the zulus as their were no assegais prior to the early 1800s. I first started collecting African swords that were flooding into Johannesurg from central Africa (most notably Zaire). These were the first African swords I had ever seen. Swords are simply not part of the armoury of most Southern Bantu speaking people, and that includes Zulu and the other numerous ethnic groups in that area.
I do not really know the reason for that. Perhaps it owes more to the existence of the knobkerrie, which really is ubiquitous in that part of the world. Interesting to note that swords seem to be absent among Polynesians (another group that opted for clubs for closer combat).
Just a thought.
Nice assegai. Those things are very hard to find. I would guess your estimation of the age on that is pretty accurate. I would guess its a Zulu War bringback?
Ron
I'd say your
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