Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Kocet-Kocetan hilt form

fearn · 2nd February 2008, 04:30 PM

Hi All,

Not a keris expert, but I am a biologist. I agree with tunggulametung. Specifically, it looks like the pupa of a long-horned boring beetle (family cerambycidae). The "horse head" is actually the head and mandibles of the beetle. The fact that the abdomen is shown on the back, and the wings aren't fully formed, along with the orientation of the curled antennae, make me pretty sure that this is a pupa, not an adult beetle. Beetles go through a complete metamorphosis, as do moths, so the similarity with a moth (noted by Mick) is understandable.

Here's the science content: these beetles are not water bugs, but their larvae live in wood, and they include some of the largest insects in the world. They can certainly provide surprises, as the larvae can live in wood for years (wood isn't very nutritious, and they tend to grow slowly--the record I've heard is 50 years in a piece of furniture, and I've personally seen two years in an oak gavel I made), and when they get big enough, they metamorphose (the form shown here), and the adults come out, have sex, lay their eggs and die. Most of the cerambycids are tiny, but the largest can certainly be the size of a keris hilt, and I think that includes some Malaysian species.

Here's my guess for the origin of the hilt: some woodworker "unearthed" a pupa of one of these beetles in a piece of wood he was working on. Said woodworker made keris hilts, and he was also a bit of an innovator. He looked at this bizarre thing he'd dug out, the light went on, and a new hilt-form was born.

My 0.002 cents,

F

Edit: I'd even venture a guess for the beetle species: the sal heartwood borer (Hoplocerambyx spinicornis), which eats the wood of the sal tree (Shorea robusta), and is a fairly serious pest. The grubs of this beetle are reportedly eaten around Sarawak. From Wikipedia, resin from the sal tree is burned as incense in Hindu ceremonies, and sal is one of the most important timbers in India. Suggestive link between insect, plant, and hinduism, isn't it?

Here's a pic

2nd February 2008, 04:30 PM	#15
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Hi All, Not a keris expert, but I am a biologist. I agree with tunggulametung. Specifically, it looks like the pupa of a long-horned boring beetle (family cerambycidae). The "horse head" is actually the head and mandibles of the beetle. The fact that the abdomen is shown on the back, and the wings aren't fully formed, along with the orientation of the curled antennae, make me pretty sure that this is a pupa, not an adult beetle. Beetles go through a complete metamorphosis, as do moths, so the similarity with a moth (noted by Mick) is understandable. Here's the science content: these beetles are not water bugs, but their larvae live in wood, and they include some of the largest insects in the world. They can certainly provide surprises, as the larvae can live in wood for years (wood isn't very nutritious, and they tend to grow slowly--the record I've heard is 50 years in a piece of furniture, and I've personally seen two years in an oak gavel I made), and when they get big enough, they metamorphose (the form shown here), and the adults come out, have sex, lay their eggs and die. Most of the cerambycids are tiny, but the largest can certainly be the size of a keris hilt, and I think that includes some Malaysian species. Here's my guess for the origin of the hilt: some woodworker "unearthed" a pupa of one of these beetles in a piece of wood he was working on. Said woodworker made keris hilts, and he was also a bit of an innovator. He looked at this bizarre thing he'd dug out, the light went on, and a new hilt-form was born. My 0.002 cents, F Edit: I'd even venture a guess for the beetle species: the sal heartwood borer (Hoplocerambyx spinicornis), which eats the wood of the sal tree (Shorea robusta), and is a fairly serious pest. The grubs of this beetle are reportedly eaten around Sarawak. From Wikipedia, resin from the sal tree is burned as incense in Hindu ceremonies, and sal is one of the most important timbers in India. Suggestive link between insect, plant, and hinduism, isn't it? Here's a pic Attached Images Last edited by fearn; 2nd February 2008 at 05:43 PM.