An unusual shark tooth sword

[fearn]

Wow, this brings back memories.

Here's the 30 second summary: There are a couple of basic ways to mount shark's teeth that differ in Polynesia (i.e. Hawaii) and Micronesia (i.e. Kiribati). It's unclear whether Melanesia has a characteristic method(s), and that's where we need more research.

In Polynesian examples, the shark teeth are separately embedded in individual holes, and they're held in place by sennit threads that pass through the holes in the wood and through a hole in the tooth. In the Micronesian method (most examples from Kiribati, a few from Truk in the old books), the teeth are braced by two splints a few millimeters across, and the whole assemblage of teeth and splints is lashed to the outside of a stick.

It's fun to speculate about why the separate methods were used. My guess is that the more restricted palette of materials available on the atolls of Kiribati or Truk meant that they didn't have good tools for gouging slots for the teeth, nor did they have good wood for that use. In Polynesia, they had greater choice for wood and stone tools, and they could mount shark's teeth more securely.

Note that the size and shape of the weapon do not appear to affect the way the teeth were mounted. Whether the weapon was a knuckle duster or a polearm, it seems the teeth were mounted in their separate, characteristic ways on the different islands.

As an aside, I just finished reading a fairly humorous memoir about living on modern Kiribati. It's called The Sex Lives of Cannibals by Troost, not that it's about sex or cannibalism. Great thing to read on the plane.

F