Mystery knife

[Robert]

I thought that I would post yet another interesting variation of these rather unusual and seemingly rare swords for comparison. This piece has a tang that extends completely through the same style of hilt that can be seen on the one identified as a "katana" seen on the page from "The Philippine Journal Of Science Volume 81 - The Pinatubo Negritos" that is also posted below. The only serious damage to this looks to be the hilt being split either by age shrinkage to the horn or possibly rust build-up on the tang itself. As I just won this piece the photos that are shown of this are those from the auction. I am hoping that after it has arrived that I might be able to identify what the stampings on the blade read.

Best,
Robert