27th November 2014, 03:43 PM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: What is still UK
Posts: 5,807
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Solomon Is mace club
This is the new addition to my collection of Solomon Island clubs. I show it with others. Like Fijian Ulas there seems little concrete understanding of there use. The work on some is quite lavish and I do not think you would throw them at an enemy. I am sure some are impact weapons. Others must be status objects as much as weapons, if not more so. There are all made with head smashing weight and form. Interesting the new one has a more practical grip and seems not to have been cover in a weave of any kind. Strangely being no more common than Ulas, they do not have the same cult following not commanding such inflated cost in the "market". This is most interesting as Fiji became a European outpost earlier and was subject to more European influence. This is a very interest link to a scholarly paper on fire arms and warfare in the Solomons. Mention is made to the sparsity of European contact in the Solomons as opposed to Fiji. Fiji being a source of European goods.
http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu...pdf?sequence=1 I am going to see a basket maker to enquire about redoing the weave on the damaged example. The example on the far left I suspect is from the New Hebrides but I have not found proof. I would like to get my hands on the version with rounded lumps rather than the flange form. So if you have a spare one you know who wants one |
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