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1887.1.584

Carved stalagmite ball

1887.1.584

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Collection type
Object
Description
Carved stalagmite ball
Long description
Carved stalagmite ball [Dan Hicks 13/06/2012] Throwing weapon, oval piece of stalagmite. [El.B 12/2/2007]
Geographical reference
Niue
Oceania > Polynesia > Niue
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1872
Date collected
By 1872
Acquisition information
Transferred: 1886 Found unentered: 1981
Materials and processes
Material Stone
Dimensions
Width 55 mm, Length 90 mm, Weight 425 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1887.1.584
Research and responses

The George Rolleston Archive (Ashmolean Museum) has several letters from W.G. Lawes that were sent to George Rolleston, together with lists of objects sent to the University Museum by Lawes. Copies of these are now in the RDF. [AS 13/03/2012]

Associated publications
The ten Niue throwing stones in the PRM collections (1887.1.581, 1887.1.582, 1887.1.583, 1887.1.584, 1887.1.585, 1887.1.586, 1887.1.587, 1886.1.588, 1928.68.15, and 1928.68.16) are discussed on page 9 and illustrated (outline drawings) in Figure 2 on page 11 of 'Throwing and Human Evolution', by Barbara Issac, in The African Archaeological Review, Vol. 5 (1987), pp. 3-17. Isaac writes: 'a serendipitous discovery at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, brought to light ten "war hand-stones"... Ten stones with a written identification of "war hand-stones" were found in the Museum one of which has the morphology of a slingstone (Fig. 2:J) [accession number not yet identified]. Seven of the ten were identified by Glynn Isaac as made of stalagmite [1887.1.581, 1887.1.583, 1887.1.584, 1887.1.585, 1887.1.586, 1928.68.15, 1928.68.16], one of a dark fine-grained basalt [1887.1.588], and two of fossilized tridacna shell [1887.1.581, 1887.1.587]. Except for the basalt item and the slingstone, they have been pecked and ground into a lemon shape presumably ballistically more effective than a sphere, as a directional spin can be imposed.' (Copy in RDF; Researchers: Isaac.) [JC 14 10 2019] The ten Niue throwing stones in the PRM collections (1887.1.581, 1887.1.582, 1887.1.583, 1887.1.584, 1887.1.585, 1887.1.586, 1887.1.587, 1886.1.588, 1928.68.15, and 1928.68.16) are listed on page 392 in 'Table 1. List of museums with throwing stones giving accession number, weight, length/breadth, raw material, collector, donor and date of donation' in 'Unexpected Trajectories: A History of Niuean Throwing Stones', by Barbara Isaac and Gwyneira Isaac, in Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. 120, no. 4 (December 2011), pp. 369-401. This object is listed as '[Accession number] 1887.1.584 / [Weight in grams] 425 / [Length / Breadth to nearest mm.] 90 x 55 / [Raw material] native stalagmite / [Collector / Previous Owner] Rev. W. G. Lawes / George Rolleston, dir. OUMNH / [Donation date] 1886'. (Copy in RDF; Researchers: Isaac.) [JC 14 10 2019]

Search terms: Weapon

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