Solomon Islands Bark Shield
| Solomon Islands Bark Shield | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Information | |
| Weapon type: | Protection weapon, status weapon |
| Designations: | Bark Shield, Solomon Islands Bark Shield |
| Use: | weapon |
| Region of origin / author: |
Solomon Islands , ethnic groups |
| Distribution: | Solomon Islands |
| Lists on the subject | |
The Solomon Islands bark shield is a protective weapon and a symbol of the Solomon Islands .
description
The Solomon Islands bark shield is made of tree bark , it is arched and rolled up on the top and bottom. A rectangular piece of wood is inserted into each of the rolled ends to stabilize this area. On the back, thin wooden sticks are attached horizontally for reinforcement. Its surface is rubbed with a paste made from nuts. It is on the outside with inlays of mother of pearl decorated with color. The handle is loop-shaped and made of vegetable fibers. Due to their fragility, it is safe to assume that these shields were not used for war, but for ceremonial and professional purposes. It is believed that they served as a status insignia for chiefs. The drawings on the outside represent human heads, they should represent the severed heads of enemies, as the Melanesians as well as other ethnic groups, the headhunting operated. Since the shields are very fragile, there are only a few copies left today.
literature
- Bill Evans: Solomon Islands. In: Harry Beran , Barry Craig (Eds.): Shields of Melanesia. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii 2005, ISBN 978-0-8248-2732-8 , pp. 237-253.
- Deborah Waite: Art of the Solomon Islands: from the collection of the Barbier-Müller Museum . Musée Barbier Mueller, Geneva 1983, ISBN 978-2-88104-003-0
- Deborah Waite: Shell-Inlaid Shields from the Solomon Islands. In: Sidney M. Mead, B. Kernot (Eds.): Art and artists of Oceania. Dunmore Press, Palmerston North 1983, ISBN 978-0-908564-85-9 , pp. 114-136.
- Philip Collins Gifford, Trait origins in Trobriand war-shields: the uncommon selection of an image cluster . American Museum of Natural History, 1996. ( Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History. 79) ISSN 0065-9452
Individual evidence
- ↑ Solomon Islands Bark shield (Bark shield from the Solomon Islands) in the Pitt Rivers Museum , inventory no. 1884.30.40 , English, accessed January 9, 2012.