Admiralty Islands Spear with obsidian tip
Admiralty Islands Spears with flaked obsidian tips, encrusted with little shells on the foreshaft
Wood, fibre, red and black pigment and shell
19th Century
Size : 182cm, 140 cm and 135cm long
please contact , ( two sold - central spear available )
ALL THREE NOW SOLD
Wood, fibre, red and black pigment and shell
19th Century
Size : 182cm, 140 cm and 135cm long
please contact , ( two sold - central spear available )
ALL THREE NOW SOLD
The Admiralty islands lie to the north of Papua New Guinea and have been inhabited for at least 5'000 years. Their primary weapons were spears and daggers made from obsidian.
Obsidian is a volcanic glass which takes a razor sharp edge and is widely used in Melanesia wherever it is available for cutting tools and weapons. It is found is shaft mines on the small islands of Lou and Pam whose great seafaring inhabitants have been trading it to Great Admiralty Island now called Manus for thousands of years, and even further across the seas to New Guinea and to New Ireland.
Obsidian is a volcanic glass which takes a razor sharp edge and is widely used in Melanesia wherever it is available for cutting tools and weapons. It is found is shaft mines on the small islands of Lou and Pam whose great seafaring inhabitants have been trading it to Great Admiralty Island now called Manus for thousands of years, and even further across the seas to New Guinea and to New Ireland.
Admiralty Islands Spear with obsidian tip
SOLD