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EXTRAORDINARY
ASMAT CROCODILE JAW BONE DAGGER
Item Code: OC204-414
Origin:
Irian Jaya, Asmat People (Provenance: Previously
in the collection of an Italian Antique Dealer)
Description: A
large and superb early Crocodile Jaw Bone Dagger, presented on a custom
metal stand. The quality, age, and patina of this specimen is magnificent!
The photos are surely no substitute for actually holding it in your hand. The tops are embellished with woven bush string or
Mulberry bark,
red ochre pigment, Sago leaf fiber, seeds and tubular black reeds. It is significant
weapon and was used for ritual killings on headhunting raids (see
detailed description below). A related example can be seen on page 70 of “Melanesia, A Short
Ethnography” by B.A.L. Cranstone, 1961 The British Museum.
The Asmat Crocodile Daggers were found
primarily in Coastal Asmat (Area A) with some also traded into Northwest Asmat
(Area B). Croc daggers have not been found in the Tijak Asmat (Area C) or
farther up in the Brazza (Area D). While the traditional human femur or
cassowary bone daggers were used in combat the Croc daggers were considered
"ritual daggers". They had much higher value and were passed down.
They were a "status" symbol also like a great shield. Thus the
great age and patina shown on them compared to the more common style.
During a head hunting raid, if the war party was lucky enough to capture
someone alive, they would be tied to the front of the war canoe with a pole
under the arms behind the back. At a confluence of a river/stream the party
would stop and pull up on a sand bar or dried mud bar. This was considered a
sacred spot. The Asmat felt that the swirling water was a place where the
spirits dwelled. The dead in Asmat belief traveled to Safran or Safrin,
the land of the dead, in spirit form. The spirits that dwelled in the river
were of an animist nature relating to their surroundings (i.e.. crocodiles,
and other dangers). The captive was then dispatched with a Croc dagger and
then decapitated! The body was thrown into the swirling waters. The head was
taken back for the initiation ceremonies which climaxed with the ritual eating
of the brain. The head was then stuck between a young man's legs near his sex
organs and he was rowed out into the rising sun where he slowly
"died" and then was reborn a man.
Dimensions: Length 20.5" (52 cm), Width 3.25" (8 cm)
Price: SOLD
  
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