Engraved Panabas, how old is it.
I have several engraved weapons, however this is my first panabas done as such.I have often struggled with how old these items are and if they were truly for fighting or decoration.
Listed under "Philippine Weapons, plates from Herbert W. Kriegan's the Collection of Primitive Weapons and Armor of the Philippine Islands," in the U.S. National Museum, there is an example like mine.It is next to a similarly decorated kampilan which he states was taken in Mindanao in 1903 and the picture plates were in the museum in the early 1920's(as memory serves), so I guess it could be approx. 100 years old.
The other question ; is it a fighting weapon? The blade is very sharp and it has a consistency of a kampilan; the thickness at the base of the spine is 3/16", rather than the 1/4" to 3/8" that my other heavier panabas have.
|