whatisit

LJ · 1st May 2014, 12:40 PM

The Madagascan spear heads were not always broad. This photo of a Sakalava man from the book 'Living Races of Mankind' (volume 2, p. 482) shows him holding spears where the heads are slightly wider than the man's fingers.

I think a key difference - which would involve comparing spears with good provenances from Madagascar and West Africa - could be the form of the butt, and especially the shape when viewed in profile. One other feature, which seems to be common on the Madagascan spears in the B.M., is that the seams of the sockets 'gape': which is the case in this spear. However, I haven't seen enough West African spears to know whether the socket seams commonly overlap / meet / gape.

If more photos would help, I will have access to the collection tomorrow.

1st May 2014, 12:40 PM	#9
LJ Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 93	The Madagascan spear heads were not always broad. This photo of a Sakalava man from the book 'Living Races of Mankind' (volume 2, p. 482) shows him holding spears where the heads are slightly wider than the man's fingers. I think a key difference - which would involve comparing spears with good provenances from Madagascar and West Africa - could be the form of the butt, and especially the shape when viewed in profile. One other feature, which seems to be common on the Madagascan spears in the B.M., is that the seams of the sockets 'gape': which is the case in this spear. However, I haven't seen enough West African spears to know whether the socket seams commonly overlap / meet / gape. If more photos would help, I will have access to the collection tomorrow. Attached Images