Australian Archaeologist Investigates Kris Sword Allegedly Gifted to Admiral Lord Nelson

Adam Brumm, an archaeologist at Griffith University, purchased a large Moro kris sword from a collector who had acquired it at a Brisbane gun show in the late 1980s or early 1990s. A handwritten label on the sword's sheath describes it as a gift from an illegible figure in Timor to Admiral Lord Nelson, Britain's celebrated naval hero who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The kris is a traditional weapon associated with the Moro people of the southern Philippines, who used such swords in centuries of fierce resistance against Spanish colonial rule and were so formidable in close combat that their encounters with American soldiers are said to have spurred the development of the .45-calibre pistol. Nelson artefacts expert Martyn Downer finds the sword's provenance plausible, noting that the Treaty of Amiens in 1802–1803 briefly suspended Dutch-British hostilities and could have facilitated such a gift from Dutch-controlled Timor. A possible route for the sword reaching Australia involves explorer Matthew Flinders, who stopped in Timor in 1802 during the first circumnavigation of mainland Australia, or alternatively one of Nelson's nephews who emigrated to New South Wales in the 1820s. Brumm hopes to apply carbon dating, ash analysis, and DNA extraction from the hilt's hemp binding to fill the many gaps in the sword's history, and says that if Nelson's ownership is confirmed, the object would hold national significance for Britain, Australia, and the Moro people alike.