Quote:
	
	
		| 
			
				 
					Originally Posted by MacCathain
					
				 
				Any additional thoughts as to the holes in the dog's cheek? It doesn't seem to be a common feature, though there are one or two examples shown in the related threads. Perhaps evidence of the existence of a "retention strap ring" is a clue to age? 
			
		 | 
	
	
 Hello MacCathain,
The last shown sword in post #8 has the holes as well. I've seen them mostly by dinahong-palay and sinampalok, see here: 
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=bicol
I think they are not deep enough for rentention strap ring, but maybe a sign of age, newer ones seems to have this holes.
Regards,
Detlef