Papua New Guinea Bird Head Bone Dagger Asmat Abelam Kwanga Peoples Early 1900s

Papua New Guinea Bird Head Bone Dagger Asmat Abelam Kwanga Peoples Early 1900s. This bone dagger was acquired from a private collection in Cairns, Australia about 50 years ago. It was made by one of the three tribal villages in the Sepic River area. Approximately 14 inches long # 190128-53. Several New Guinean tribes, including the.

Abelam, Asmat, and Kwanga people. Crafted daggers from cassowary bones.

These daggers were used for fighting, hunting, and ceremony, and were often elaborately decorated with carvings and feathers. The Abelam people, from the Maprik/Wosera area, frequently used cassowary bone for daggers, known as yina or ina. These were worn on the upper arm. The Asmat people of Southwest New Guinea created a dagger called pisuwe from cassowary bone (pi pisuwe).

These were used for ritual killings and were often decorated with carvings and feathers. The Kwanga people of the Middle Sepik River region also created daggers from cassowary bone, which were used in close combat and sometimes worn around the neck.

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