African Poison arrows and quiver

Jim McDougall · 29th January 2008, 06:22 PM

Thanks very much for responding guys!
Tim, that really is an interesting reference, and I only have photocopies of it. Its been a while since I've seen it, but the material I think has some detail on the arrows. I'm surprised you found it and good move on snagging it!

As I mentioned, I'm not all that familiar with arrows, especially not African and poisoned types, but I've really enjoyed learning in this research. I did see some arrows shown that were similar from Tanzania, and curiously there seemed differentiation with the single downward barb being termed 'male' and the full arrowhead form with of course symmetrical downward barbs being termed 'female'. These head shapes remind me a lot of harpoons, which came up in some interesting research from a number of months ago ( saw "Moby Dick" and my usual curiosity went into overdrive!).

I havent been able to find a reference that provides any comprehensive material on arrowhead typology in African weapons, mostly just bits here and there addressing weapons of specific tribes and regions. I was wondering if any of the references you often cite here might have such detail.

Fearn, absolutely great 'tidbits'! and these really add interesting dimension to this look into these weapons. I always find it fascinating to discover that in many cases the etymology of terms referring to certain weapons often include the names or derivatives of the botanical species used in the components. This is a great addition to notes on that subject. Others I can think of offhand are the 'assegai' which I think has to do with the wood of the shaft, the 'dudgeon dagger' in Scotland with dudgeon being a term for the boxwood used in the hilt. There are quite a few others I believe and that would make for an excellent thread topic.

The Bowyers Bible reference sounds like an oustanding source for in depth study on archery and it seems it came up a couple of times in the reading I did for this.

I haven't seen "The Gods Must be Crazy" but sounds pretty funny, was that a Mel Brooks film?

Thanks again for joining in with me! To me researching weapons is great adventure, and its a lot more fun with company!

All very best regards,
Jim

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29th January 2008, 06:22 PM	#7
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,200	Thanks very much for responding guys! Tim, that really is an interesting reference, and I only have photocopies of it. Its been a while since I've seen it, but the material I think has some detail on the arrows. I'm surprised you found it and good move on snagging it! As I mentioned, I'm not all that familiar with arrows, especially not African and poisoned types, but I've really enjoyed learning in this research. I did see some arrows shown that were similar from Tanzania, and curiously there seemed differentiation with the single downward barb being termed 'male' and the full arrowhead form with of course symmetrical downward barbs being termed 'female'. These head shapes remind me a lot of harpoons, which came up in some interesting research from a number of months ago ( saw "Moby Dick" and my usual curiosity went into overdrive!). I havent been able to find a reference that provides any comprehensive material on arrowhead typology in African weapons, mostly just bits here and there addressing weapons of specific tribes and regions. I was wondering if any of the references you often cite here might have such detail. Fearn, absolutely great 'tidbits'! and these really add interesting dimension to this look into these weapons. I always find it fascinating to discover that in many cases the etymology of terms referring to certain weapons often include the names or derivatives of the botanical species used in the components. This is a great addition to notes on that subject. Others I can think of offhand are the 'assegai' which I think has to do with the wood of the shaft, the 'dudgeon dagger' in Scotland with dudgeon being a term for the boxwood used in the hilt. There are quite a few others I believe and that would make for an excellent thread topic. The Bowyers Bible reference sounds like an oustanding source for in depth study on archery and it seems it came up a couple of times in the reading I did for this. I haven't seen "The Gods Must be Crazy" but sounds pretty funny, was that a Mel Brooks film? Thanks again for joining in with me! To me researching weapons is great adventure, and its a lot more fun with company! All very best regards, Jim