sword help

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Kisuke,
With the number of guys here who focus on SE Asian, Filipino and Indonesian weapons, I cannot believe nobody has answered this !
Since these areas are outside my field of study, without resources to check, I would say it is likely from the Philippines or possibly Malaysia. Maybe I can find something in Stone.

As far as the notches, it would be good to see a picture of them. As far as it has been determined, there is no established validity to notches, markings, brass dots, holes or any means of tallying either kills or heads taken on weapons. This of course has been longstanding in associated folklore concerning tribes or more often, dealers selling weapons. While there are of course cultures who ceremonially recognize headhunting and other warfare achievements, as far as I know no tally marks were placed on weapons.

In another discussion some time ago on this topic, I was reminded of the gunfighters here in America's wild west, who supposedly placed a notch in thier gun signifying the number of thier victims. This of course is the product of sensationalized tales of western writers, and there is virtually no evidence of any notched handles in the guns of any of the gunfighters.

Looks like a sound example, and if I can find anything more I'll post it.

All best regards,
Jim