African spear

[Helleri]

Originally Posted by Norman McCormick

Hi,
Here are some Zulu or associated tribal spears of mine. The three between the dished knobkerrie and the loin covering are the obvious stabbing variety. The two on the right hand side are the obvious throwing type. The one second from the left has a throwing type head but has been cut down possibly, I remember reading somewhere, to use as an ersatz stabbing spear or maybe some Victorian traveller cut it down for easier transportation to Blighty. The end has been cut using a blade rather than a saw so maybe the first postulation is the right one. The one on the far left although the shaft is longer than the obvious stabbing type has an animal hide grip on the end the obvious reason being to afford a better grip so I would guess this is a stabbing type. The third and fourth from the right are perhaps a bit more ambiguous i.e. long shaft and long blade although one has a tapered butt which would suggest a stabbing weapon. I have also attached a photo of the six large bladed spears in order to compare the different blade types. I hope this is of some help.
Regard,
Norman.

Note that the two immediately to the right of the loin cloth are not only the ones with the most robust shafts. But also the only ones with significant edge damage (of an angle and shape that would imply they were swung and stopped by another edged weapon).