Very Unusual Philippine Sword.

Ian · 24th September 2016, 02:43 PM

Robert,

Thank you for the very interesting plate and reference. The Pinatubo Negritos are, I understand, members of the Ayta tribal group. The term negritos came via the Spanish to describe the dark skin of these rather short people. US servicemen at Clark AFB and the Subic Bay Naval Station would have come in contact with Ayta because this was part of their home territory. In the 1990s, when I visited the Subic Bay area, there were many of the Ayta in that area and they were closely associated with the Jungle Environment Survival School (JESS).

Of the examples shown in Fox's plate, the hilt of the second one sticks out like a sore thumb. The hilt is clearly of Tagalog origin and Jose's attribution to Pampanga is probably correct. Not that Pampanga is far from the Ayta at all, and this style of knife could easily have been acquired in the area they occupy.

The first knife (called here a dipalata) has a style of hilt that caused much debate on this site some years ago. A studio portrait of an Ilongot man showed him holding one of these bolos. At the time of that discussion it was thought that style might be attributed to the Ilongot, a tribal group of former headhunters in northern Luzon. Fox's plate suggests an Ayta origin, and given the staged nature of the picture of the Ilongot man, it is possible he was holding a bolo from elsewhere merely as a prop for the picture. However in both cases, Ilongot and Ayta, this hilt style is not consistent with other weapons used by these respective groups.

The remaining knives shown in Fox's plate are more typical of what I have seen among the Ayta, with rather nondescript wooden hilts of functional (rather than decorative) form.

Robert, I tried to find a digital version of the Philippine Journal of Science online, but volume 31 (?) does not seem to be available. Perhaps you could scan and post a copy of the article here for future reference as this seems to be a rare publication.

Ian

24th September 2016, 02:43 PM	#13
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,362	Robert, Thank you for the very interesting plate and reference. The Pinatubo Negritos are, I understand, members of the Ayta tribal group. The term negritos came via the Spanish to describe the dark skin of these rather short people. US servicemen at Clark AFB and the Subic Bay Naval Station would have come in contact with Ayta because this was part of their home territory. In the 1990s, when I visited the Subic Bay area, there were many of the Ayta in that area and they were closely associated with the Jungle Environment Survival School (JESS). Of the examples shown in Fox's plate, the hilt of the second one sticks out like a sore thumb. The hilt is clearly of Tagalog origin and Jose's attribution to Pampanga is probably correct. Not that Pampanga is far from the Ayta at all, and this style of knife could easily have been acquired in the area they occupy. The first knife (called here a dipalata) has a style of hilt that caused much debate on this site some years ago. A studio portrait of an Ilongot man showed him holding one of these bolos. At the time of that discussion it was thought that style might be attributed to the Ilongot, a tribal group of former headhunters in northern Luzon. Fox's plate suggests an Ayta origin, and given the staged nature of the picture of the Ilongot man, it is possible he was holding a bolo from elsewhere merely as a prop for the picture. However in both cases, Ilongot and Ayta, this hilt style is not consistent with other weapons used by these respective groups. The remaining knives shown in Fox's plate are more typical of what I have seen among the Ayta, with rather nondescript wooden hilts of functional (rather than decorative) form. Robert, I tried to find a digital version of the Philippine Journal of Science online, but volume 31 (?) does not seem to be available. Perhaps you could scan and post a copy of the article here for future reference as this seems to be a rare publication. Ian