The shape of these clubs reminds me of the alternate use of the pointy style new Guinea canoe paddles. My old books indicate a few which are made quite long for the purpose of standing while paddling. I have one or two tucked away somewhere. The change to standing position of canoe occupants thus confused sharks who self-taught themselves to snatch a quick meal from a canoe. After some engineering study the natives decided that standing would be a good disguise and made longer paddles to confuse surprise dinner guests.
On the other hand there is an account of an organized highly scripted cannibal murder of another New Guinea cannibal whose tribe had not been on friendly terms with the other one. As the account noted, the befriended victim was attacked in a hut. Trying to escape through a hole in the floor he was skewered through the leg thus preventing escape. The account said he was beaten to death by the women of the village as he hung through the hole in the floor. The author surmised he expected to get to his canoe at the river at which point he would be use his spear-pointed paddle as a hasty weapon and take an attacker with him.
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