Bamboo spear with obsidian blade (tip missing). [El.B 20/05/2011]

Collection type: Object
Description: Bamboo spear with obsidian blade (tip missing). [El.B 20/05/2011]
Long description: Bamboo spear with obsidian blade. The blade is fixed to the shaft with resin and a wooden collar. The resin is bound with string and painted white with red lozenges. Below the blade rows of seeds are set into the resin. [El.B 20/05/2011]
Geographical reference: Papua New Guinea
Oceania > Melanesia > Papua New Guinea; Admiralty Islands Bismarck Archipelago
Person: Field collector John Fiot Lee Pearse Maclear; Field collector HMS Challenger; Field collector HMS Alert; Field collector HMS Flying Fish; PRM source Julia Maclear
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1891
Date collected: 1873 - 1876 [Challenger] and 1879 - 1891 [other surveying work]
Acquisition information: Donated: 1909
Materials and processes: Material Obsidian Stone, Material Wood Plant, Material Bamboo Plant, Material Resin Plant, Material Pigment, Material Plant Seed, Material String, Process Flaked, Process Carved, Process Glued, Process Bound, Process Painted, Process Chip Carved
Dimensions: Width: max 49 mm, Depth: max 24 mm, Length: max 1698 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1909.30.12
Research and responses: In May 2011 this object was the subject of pXRF analysis, carried out at the PRM by Robin Torrence (Senior Principal Research Scientist, Australian Museum, Sydney.The source of the obsidian was identified as Umrei/Umleang, Lou Island, Manus. For a report on the project of which this work was a part, see 'Expanding the Range of PXRF to Ethnographic Collections', by Robin Torrence, Peter White, and Sarah Kelloway, in IAOS Bulletin [International Association for Obsidian Studies), no. 46 (Winter 20912), pp. 9-15. (See correspondence and photocpies in RDF: Researchers: Torrence.) [JC 14 10 2019]

Search terms: Weapon, Spear

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