A caucasian shashka from my collection for comment

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by ariel

The above shashka has a feature that puzzles me ( right away: I may be wrong because of its photographic presentation!!!). There were 2 classic forms: "caucasian" with the the handle inserted into the scabbard down to the very pommel, and "asian" with the base of the handle being flush with the top of the scabbard. This one seems to be not here and not there. This is why I cannot exclude its more recent origin.

Hello Ariel,

Nice and thorough analysis but I believe this one qualifies quite well into the "caucasian" type. I don't think the fact that it doesn't sink into the scabbard as deep as other examples is of major significance as it may simply be because of parcticality, to allow a better grip when drawing the sword.