Bontoc/Igorot "Fangkao" Spear
 

This spear (thanks to a very good friend) is the newest addition to my collection of Northern Philippines items. From the little information I have been able to gather this piece according to Stone's is called a "fangkao" which basically is a hinalung that has been mounted as a spear. The overall length is 59 inches with the sharpened section of the blade being 8 inches in length, 1-3/4 inches at its widest point and a socket 4-1/2 inches in length. There is some minor damage to the rattan banding where it extends over the metal of the socket onto the wooden shaft. I believe that these are the only Philippine spearheads that uses a socket instead of a tang in their construction. This is the only almost complete example (it is missing the butt spike) of this style of spear that I have ever seen outside of books. If any forum member happen to have an example of one of these spears in their own collection please post a photo of it here for comparison. The one photo below showing the complete spear is from the auction as all the full length photo's I had taken did not turn out well enough to post. As to why the spears head looks shiny in that one photo I would guess to be from bad lighting.:shrug: Any information or comments on this item would be greatly appreciated.

Best,
Robert

Very nice example, Robert, and it appears to have some age judging from the rattan bindings that show a nice patina. Congrats.

Ian

Ian, Thank you very much for your interest and opinion on the age of this piece. The patina on the bindings looks a bit washed in the photos and is even more evident when viewing it in person. Do to the fact that there are many different tribes in the Northern Philippines Cordilleras, do you know of any way of telling exactly which one this spear is actually from?

Best,
Robert

Robert:

I don't know how to tell which particular native group this may have come from. The rattan bindings appear generic and the hinalung shaped blade seems to be fairly widespread in several of the northern Luzon mountain areas. I would think Ifugao/Igorot would pretty much cover the groups who might have made this one. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Ian

Hi Robert,

The spear appears to be Ifugao. It is called "ludit" in the vernacular.

Best regards,
Nonoy

Sorry that it has taken so long to make my reply on this thread, but things have been a total disaster here on the old homestead this weekend.

Ian, You have been most helpful in identifying this spear as for which group it might have originated from.

Nonoy, Thank you very much for your interest and for pinpointing the exact group that made this spear. It is great importance to me (and I am sure many others) to be able to not only identify by who a particular piece was made, but also knowing by what name it was called by them as well.

Right before I was to make my reply here I received an email from our good friend Lorenz. It was his response to one I had sent him earlier about this spear. In his answer (though he had not seen or been told what you had said) he is in total agreement with what has been posted. Here is his reply;

Hello Robert,
That's a very nice example. I have a friend (a PhD) who researched a lot about the subject. Based on the info I got from him the proper name of that spear is "ludít" (pronounced loo-DEET, that is, accent on the last syllable)
it is also sometimes called as "luchit" (loo-CHEAT) or "bangkaw" (bahng-COW)
All the above are Ifugao terms, and the Ifugaos are one of the largest amongst the northern Luzon mountain people called Igorots. That type is not a hunting spear; rather it's a battle spear. Its design is ancient; since time immemorial that has always been the shape of the Ifugaos' battle spear.
Another famous Igorot group, the Bontocs, also use this type of non-barbed spear but in the case of the Bontocs, this non-barbed spear is called a "fang-kao" per Jenks (an American anthropologist who wrote a book about the Bontocs in the early-1900s), the Bontocs' fang-kao is a spear used exclusively for killing pigs and carabaos (thus, the context must have been sacrificial/religious offerings).

Again I would like to thank all of you for all your interest and help in identifying this very nice old spear.

Best,
Robert

Hello Robert,

what a great addition to your collection. Like you I never before I've seen such a spear before. I have a small hinalung dagger in my collection with the common scabbard and it is more as clear that it could be mounted at a shaft/stem to get a spear but I've never seen such a spear before. What seems interesting to my eyes, your spear seems to be constucted as spear and not optional as dagger/spear since the lower rattan binding cover a part of the iron socket as well the shaft and seems to be the fixation of the spear head byself. Again, congrats to such a great addition to your collection. And this thread show again that this is a awesome forum, you get out in short time not only the exact origin but also the local name of this sort of spear! :)

Best regards,
Detlef

Hello Detlef, and thank you for your kind words and interest. The fact that the head of this spear is more or less permanently attached to the shaft by the incorporation of a socket instead of a tang (as most if not all other spearheads from the Philippines are) makes these rather unique in their construction. As you have pointed out, the lower bindings on this example extends completely over the end of the metal socket and onto the wooden portion of the shaft itself. This binding combined with a good tight fit between wood and metal are the only things I can see holding the head to the shaft. Before I was able to examine this example closely I had always assumed that when hinalung's (with the more leaf shaped blades like this one) were to be used as a spearhead were fitted to the end of the wooden shaft by either a tight fit between wood and metal combined with a steel cross pin (like those used to help secure the heads on spears like the "falfeg" or possibly the combination of a tight fit and the use of some form of adhesive. I have never seen one of the hinalung's with the more triangular shape to the end of the blade ever mounted as a spear. If I remember correctly I did however read somewhere that this more triangular shaped tip would greatly hinder the blade's ability to penetrate properly so it was mostly used (depending on its length) as either a knife, a hand axe or shortsword. Again, my thanks to all who have shown interest and offered much needed information on this item and hopefully to those yet to comment.

Best,
Robert