A very, very old Moro kris

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Ian

David and Detlef,

You are both much more knowledgeable about keris than I am. Thank you for your thoughts. However, neither of you commented on the presence of a round tang versus a flat or squared tang. In other discussions here, the presence of a round tang was thought to indicate an early form of kris. It has been suggested that the move to a flat tang was to avoid the twisting of the hilt in the hand during use, and that the asang asang were applied for the same reason.

Detlef, do you know if your old kris has a round tang or how long the tang is? IIRC, the tang has become shorter over time, and early tangs were often quite long in the hilt.

Hi Ian,
Yes, I know that it's said that early blades have a round tang. But frankly I haven't seen enough early blades without handles to verify this, but it seems reasonable. But there is still the question from which time frame there was the change from round to square tangs.

And no, I don't know the tang construction by this one nor by the other old kris blade in my possession, I've never dismantled the handles. Sadly I don't have a veterinarian as friend! For sure it would be helpful to know it by many more examples, we would know much more.

Regards,
Detlef