Sawfish sword

[fearn]

Hi Andrew

I think the basic point is that sawfish, like swordfish, occur all over the world. Actually, that's not quite true--they used to occur all over the world, especially in the tropics (thanks to overfishing and pollution). I'd guess that quite a few people have seen the weapon possibilities in a sawfish bill, given the number of examples floating around.

So far as this specimen goes, the fish was a large one, the handle looks to be carved from part of the bill, and it could have been made almost anywhere. I don't think it's "authentic indigenous" Torres Islander material, simply because they're halfway between the Australian Aborigines and the southern shore Papuans, and this doesn't look nearly that primitive. The item could easily have been manufactured in the Torres Strait area, but if so, it's probably of relatively recent provenance.

One other thing: some sawfish species are endangered, although I'm too lazy at the moment to do the searching to find out which are covered. Given that this piece is hard to age or place, you might want to be a little careful about moving it between countries...

That's my 0.02 cents,

F