A Massive and All Business Old Manding Sword

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by TVV

Loverly sword, but am I the only one to whom the hilt looks similar to those on Toma swords?

Teodor

Well noted Teodor, and hadn't thought of these people further west on the coast Toma/Mande and in Sierra Leone, Guinea. These people used the 'rondel' style hilts, but the sphere atop the pommel disc still reflects Manding and in the Mali regions.

These kinds of diffusion make it really difficult to classify many of these weapons to a certain group or geographic area. All we can do is recognize the influences present in whatever weapon we are examining.