- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- Shark-tooth sword. [AB [OPS Move] 24/5/2017]
- Long description
- Shark-tooth sword. Made from wood, it is straight and flat, the tip is pointed. Each edge of the blade has sharks' teeth set into grooves and bound with string. The handle and blade are covered with woven plant fibre and bound with string. [AB [OPS Move] 24/5/2017]
- Geographical reference
- Date / Period
- Date made: Before 1990
- Date collected
- By 1990
- Acquisition information
- Transferred: 03/05/1990
- Materials and processes
- Material Wood Plant, Material Shark Tooth Fish, Material Sennit Coconut Seed Fibre Plant, Material Palm Leaf Plant, Process Bound, Process Perforated, Process Grooved, Process Carved, Process Tied
- Dimensions
- Width: max 56 mm, Depth: max 24 mm, Length: max 660 mm
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1990.23.22
- Research and responses
Carved from coconut wood, grooved to accommodate the teeth of the Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) and/or the Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharias taurus). These teeth are drilled through and lashed onto the blade with the pinnules (side-ribs) of the coconut leaf, and occasionally female human hair. The aim for the use of all I-Kiribati weapons was to open the enemy’s abdomen, or the major artery inside the elbow. Warriors took magical precautions before battle to deflect their enemy’s weapons. Immediately before the battle, the warrior would strip a single pinnule of a coconut leaf and join the ends into a necklace to wear. As he joined the ends, he chanted: “The weapon is descending, it has nearly descended! But I shall deflect it downwards or upwards. The weapon is descending, but it is afraid, it is a coward. Uh! All is well!”. Relevant Reading: Murdoch, G.M. (1923) Gilbert Islands Weapons & Armour. In: Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol.32, pp.174-5. Gudger, E.W. (1930) Helmets from Skins of Porcupine Fish. In: Illustrated Science Monthly, Vol.30, pp.432-442. Guiart, J. (1963) The Arts of the South Pacific. London: Thames & Hudson. Grimble, A. (1972) Migrations, Myth & Magic from the Gilbert Islands. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Koch, G. (1986) The Material Culture of Kiribati. Suva: University of the South Pacific. Grimble, A.F. (1989) Tungaru Traditions: Writings on the Atoll Culture of the Gilbert Islands. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Research Conducted for DCF Cutting Edge 2006/2007 [AM]
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