Very nice to have a better identification of that shield; it is without doubt the piece I have least information on. I will have to try to get my hands on a copy of that Elsen and Baur book as well.
Are all the sickle knives purely a weapon? Or is there agricultural use, and they are weapons purely by expediency?
I have had a look at some Songye axes, and they do look to be basically the same design in some cases. I do not think the Songye geographic range extends to Lake Tanganyika (could be wrong, it is very much not my area of specialty), but they are at least in fairly close proximity. That style of axe is a very low-tech and functional hafting, so it seems plausible that it would be similar across several tribes in the region.
Cheers,
E
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