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Originally Posted by David
Marius, what do you mean by "vestigial" hilts. This style of keris did not have intrinsic iron hilts like keris sajen. The hilts on this type of keris would most likely be wood which would not survive long periods of time (centuries) buried in the earth. 
That doesn't remove all suspicion from these pieces, but i cannot see the lack of any remains of the hilt as cause for that suspicion.  |
By vestigial hilts, I meant some vestiges of old wooden hilts. Generally even rotten wood leaves some traces and definitely unevenly corroded pesis. Moreover, some hardwoods are very resistant to rotting and can survive hundreds of years in soil.
However, it is rather difficult to judge without having them in the hand... and enen then it may be hard to tell for sure.