A Very Old Kris

[David]

Originally Posted by kai

I also would like to point out that you can't utilize the contemporary concept/definition of a word to discuss cultural developments that happened many centuries earlier, especially if you ask "cultural outsiders" like Christian Filipinos what they happen to use the word kris for, even if this has been going on for quite some time.

This is a very good point Kai. This is also relevant to Lorenz's question of how the average Indonesian might view or describe keris/kris. We collectors, whether native to the region or Western, are much more in tune with these distinctions. The average Indonesian these days has little interest in keris and how they respond and/or choose to name or describe these blades has little relevance to historical accuracy. This makes even field research extremely difficult and i am afraid that finding those "old" guys out there who actually still know something about all this is becoming next to impossible.