Ben, you may well be right about the age. I don't know very much about these blade so dating them isn't easy for me. There is wear and patina to the handle and the blade's edge shows some use with nicks here and there. I know some folks put a good deal of importance on whether or not these swords have taken heads, but for me that is of little importance. I am mostly interested in them because of the extraordinary style of dayak art, which to my eyes seems very advanced. I posted this once before when i was still posting as Nechesh, but didn't get much feedback:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=Mandau
Any information you might have would be helpful.
