North Cameroon sword

[colin henshaw]

Originally Posted by Iain

Hi Colin,

a) Yes, these are the simplest in some ways. The quality difference is usually pretty clear.

b) Personally I'm not sure how to ID these. The finish, form, fullers etc. are what I usually go on to ID native versus non native.

c) Yes, some items like Tebu, some arm daggers etc. where it seems pretty clear when local ore is used.

d) I'd say none forged sheet metal items. Which are fairly easy to ID.

I have noticed different corrosion tendencies on European blades and sheet metal blades. However so much comes down to storage conditions, I'm not sure about using it as an ID method when it comes to European versus native steel/iron.

But I'm simply not much of a metallurgist!

Iain

Thanks for your reply, Iain. What do you think of this type of corrosion pattern ? I often see something similar on Somali and Sudanese blades, but not usually on Southern African weapons...

Regards.