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Fighting Club, late 19th Century
Yangoru Boiken culture; East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea…
Club
Fighting Club, late 19th Century
Yangoru Boiken culture; East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea…
Fighting Club, late 19th Century Yangoru Boiken culture; East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia Wood; 72 5/8 × 2 1/2 × 1 3/8 in. 2009.5.7 Bowers Museum Purchase

Club

ClassificationsArms and Armor-clubs
Culture Yangoru Boiken
Datelate 19th Century
Made AtEast Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
MediumWood
Dimensions72 5/8 × 2 1/2 × 1 3/8 in. (184.5 × 6.4 × 3.5 cm)
Credit LineBowers Museum Purchase
Object number2009.5.7
DescriptionThis fighting club comes from the Yangoru Boiken people residing in Papua New Guinea's East Sepik Province. It is carved with powerful human, avian and reptilian designs that morph into one another. The symbols provided both precision and protection to the warrior who used it.
War clubs and were very common in the islands that made up Melanesia including Vanuatu and New Guinea. Primarily used in combat during tribal conflicts, the use of heavy wood and often stone attached to the end made the clubs highly effective. The war clubs were sometimes used in an agricultural role. And in addition symbolic war clubs were often created for the sole purpose of being placed beside a deceased warrior as they prepared for the journey into the afterworld.
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