Aus Aboriginal club+shield

Shamsy · 13th June 2016, 01:05 AM

Good morning Tim,

You have some nice looking pieces there. A digging stick and a shield. The shields are quite amazing and require a lot of skill to use. The idea is to use the wedge shape to deflect an incoming spear either left or right of your body. I have seen how fast and accurate a spear is thrown and can tell you this is no mean feat!

I recently attended the Melbourne museum and was able to walk through a display dedicated to Aboriginal history. The artifacts there were for the most part unpainted, much more utility and less show. The painting on the digging stick would obviously be contemporary since that would be the equivalent of painting a spade head. I'd probably say that would entirely be contemporary. Boomerang, digging sticks and clubs are all fairly common here. I have a couple myself. The shield... well not so common. That could be ssomewhat older, but while Aboriginal people may sell art freely, older objects are hard to come by. Once you have it in hand you'll be able to look for signs of age.

13th June 2016, 01:05 AM	#3
Shamsy Member Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Australia Posts: 12	Good morning Tim, You have some nice looking pieces there. A digging stick and a shield. The shields are quite amazing and require a lot of skill to use. The idea is to use the wedge shape to deflect an incoming spear either left or right of your body. I have seen how fast and accurate a spear is thrown and can tell you this is no mean feat! I recently attended the Melbourne museum and was able to walk through a display dedicated to Aboriginal history. The artifacts there were for the most part unpainted, much more utility and less show. The painting on the digging stick would obviously be contemporary since that would be the equivalent of painting a spade head. I'd probably say that would entirely be contemporary. Boomerang, digging sticks and clubs are all fairly common here. I have a couple myself. The shield... well not so common. That could be ssomewhat older, but while Aboriginal people may sell art freely, older objects are hard to come by. Once you have it in hand you'll be able to look for signs of age.