8 BULLETIN 137, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of the localities in which they are made and used. Some of the 

 weapon types originating in a locality are not found elsewhere, 

 while others are related to various foreign cultures and represent 

 more generalized weapon forms. 



A third objective is to make accessible to the public a catalogue 

 of the weapons in the United States National Museum from the 

 Philippine Islands to which reference may be taken in the classi- 

 fication, identification, and appreciation of the many excellent 

 Philippine wea^Don collections throughout the United States. 



DEVELOPMENT OF PHILIPPINE WEAPONS AND TRIBAL CULTURES 



Early differentiation of 'primitive weapons and implements. — 

 Cutting instruments early became differentiated into weapons and 

 implements. No difference existed originally between implements 

 and weapons. The digging stick is also the first weapon form. A 

 heavy stick is also a club. A club with a knob becomes a still more 

 effective weapon when sharpened to an edge on one of its surfaces,, 

 thus becoming an ax. Point the stick and it becomes a spear for 

 combat at a distance. If the stick is short it becomes a dagger 

 .suitable for defensive and offensive use at close quarters. Flatten 

 the stick and prolong its sharpened edge to the full length of the 

 stick and it becomes a sword. A short flat stick with sharpened 

 lateral edge becomes a knife. If the stick with bulbous end is edged 

 transversely to its longitudinal axis, the ax becomes a hoe. The 

 stick which has acquired a knife-blade edge is also a useful house- 

 hold implement. The same quality of use applies to objects of stone 

 and to the metals, such as copper and iron. Among primitive 

 peoples sharp-edged iron knives used in the household, in hunting, 

 and in the handicrafts are also weapons of combat. 



Specialization of pointed^ edged., and striking weapons through 

 the introduction of metals, — Only among those tribes more skilled 

 as ironsmiths and among tribes which have repeatedly been sub- 

 jected to foreign culture influence is there an appreciable differ- 

 entiation in weapon types. The iron culture of Malaysia, more 

 particularly of the Philippine Islands, comes under such a classi- 

 fication. Here, again, it is among those Filipino nationalities 

 whose Mohammedanization is most marked that weapons assume 

 their most varied and beautiful forms. 



In the Proceedings of the United States National Museum (vol. 

 60, p. 20) , a classification of weapons is given which is also applicable 

 in this study of Philippine weapon and armor types. Omitting all 

 employment of fire, smoke, poison, etc., to destroy life, the weapons 

 of mankind are of three kinds — pointed weapons to pierce some vital 

 part, edged weapons to cut the muscular tissues and even to chop the 



