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Originally Posted by Iain
Hi Michael,
Actually those illustrate my point precisely. The form of the marks is different and typically focused only on the outline, they are also always encountered in pairs. On the katzbalger in question three half moons are stamped which would be incredibly unusual for a Tuareg sword. That is not to say it couldn't happen but it would be entirely unique in my experience. 
The profile is also not correct for a Tuareg sword, if it had some decent age the tip would have long ago been narrowed from excessive sharpening and would show heavy sharpening marks as Tuaregs typically use stones to hone the edge with leave very distinctive long striations.
By the way the first sword is in fact a kaskara from the Sudan, not a Tuareg sword, in the case of kaskara the tip is almost always a sharp point, not rounded.
I actually only collect takouba so I am fairly comfortable on the topic which is why I thought I would leave a comment on this thread. You can look at http://takouba.org if you like, which is my website.
Cheers,
Iain |
Excellent, Iain,
I guess we are on the same page now - thank you! And I do like your site although this is not my expertise; this hopefully will explain for my mixing up the terminology.
Anyway, my post did not mean to criticize, just clarify.
Best,
Michael