Club

ClassificationsArms and Armor-clubs

Culture Massim

Date20th Century

Made AtMilne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea

MediumWood

Dimensions38 3/4 × 2 1/2 × 3/8 in. (98.4 × 6.4 × 1 cm)

Credit LineAnonymous Gift

Object number2021.7.82

DescriptionThis uniquely shaped club was made by the Massim people residing in Papua New Guinea's Milne Bay Province. War clubs were very common in the islands that make up Melanesia, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Guinea. Primarily wielded in tribal conflicts, clubs made of heavy wood and occasionally fitted with stone heads were highly effective bludgeoning tools. War clubs had other uses too. They could be employed in agriculture and 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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