Marking of weapons: Anthropologically and Sociologically

Jim McDougall · 2nd January 2008, 05:22 PM

Hi Tim,
Thank you for posting these Nepal swords, and interesting thoughts on this indeed crudely carved starlike mark that clearly is not part of the intricate carving of the scabbard motif. As you note, it would be difficult to imagine what the purpose of what such an almost defacing mark would be intended to mean, but its deliberate appearance suggests it had some purpose. This is the kind of thing I wanted to address in scope, and though we probably will not be able to determine actual meanings in many examples, it does seem possible we will might find some consistancies, and perhaps even possible explanations.

Thank you for posting the excellent African examples Luc! Here are examples of clearly intended geometric motif that probably did have distinct meaning to the tribesman or his group, and most likely may have had either folk magic or tribal traditional symbolism. I think Tim had an African stick posted not long ago that had geometric squares or diamonds on it, and there was some relation to numerics with such symbolism.
Tim, do you recall?

Thank you for posting these Tim and Luc, and especially for helping me get this thread going.

All best regards,
Jim

2nd January 2008, 05:22 PM	#4
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,295	Hi Tim, Thank you for posting these Nepal swords, and interesting thoughts on this indeed crudely carved starlike mark that clearly is not part of the intricate carving of the scabbard motif. As you note, it would be difficult to imagine what the purpose of what such an almost defacing mark would be intended to mean, but its deliberate appearance suggests it had some purpose. This is the kind of thing I wanted to address in scope, and though we probably will not be able to determine actual meanings in many examples, it does seem possible we will might find some consistancies, and perhaps even possible explanations. Thank you for posting the excellent African examples Luc! Here are examples of clearly intended geometric motif that probably did have distinct meaning to the tribesman or his group, and most likely may have had either folk magic or tribal traditional symbolism. I think Tim had an African stick posted not long ago that had geometric squares or diamonds on it, and there was some relation to numerics with such symbolism. Tim, do you recall? Thank you for posting these Tim and Luc, and especially for helping me get this thread going. All best regards, Jim