Some Zulu? spears and a knobkerrie.

[Norman McCormick]

Originally Posted by drac2k

I was wondering about the second spear from the left; I have one and soon I'll add another one. The configuration was the same as the Zulu throwing spear, however, it is much too short; about the length of the stabbing spear. I don't think that it has been cut down because the shaft is too small, it is in proportion to the spearhead and as mentioned, I now have seen 3 of these.
Were these used by women, young boys, or for ceremonial purposes?

Hi,
My apologies for not getting back to you, I missed this post. The two reasons I have read for what one might think of as throwing spears to be shortened was 1) a bring back souvenir, from colonial times, was cut down to accomodate luggage requirements and 2) shortened for use as a stabbing weapon. The one I have has been cut and not sawn which makes me think it may have been shortened to use as a weapon but of course this is just conjecture as it could just as well have been chopped by a souvenir hunter with an axe. Looking at the patination on the cut end it was done quite some time ago. There may be other explanations that I am unaware of.
My Regards,
Norman.