NEW GUINEA CLUB SWORD

Massim people, Papua New Guinea. Carved wood, 24 ¾” length. The hilt with crested pommel and modeled cross guard. These last are usually encountered broken off but intact here. Paddle form blade with crested tip. The lower portion both sides, carved in Characteristic interlocking curvilinear elements flanked by hound’s tooth bands. See Stone, fig. 232 #11 described as New Guinea. “Sword”, the old shape before the coming of whites. Ebony, carved with lines filled in with white clay. The edges splintered from use in battle. Sword clubs such as this were capable of cracking open a rib cage or splitting a skull.