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Awl <tool>

Pandanus leaves were sewn together using special needles fashioned from bone and used to cover roofs. This demanding and time-consuming work was usually undertaken by women. Once the roof had been woven together, it would be fastened to the house. According to the collector Antonie Brandeis, the needle displayed here was made from a dolphin’s jawbone.

Data Provider
Städtische Museen Freiburg
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Cataloguing data

Object type
Ahle
Dimensions
Länge: 220.0 mm
Material/Technique
Bones
Current location
Museum Natur und Mensch
Inventory number
II/1359
Related object(s)
is related to : II/1358
is related to : II/1360

Provenance and sources

when
before 1900

when
24.04.1900
who
Brandeis, Eugen - Former Possessors

where
Marshall Islands (location/origin)
Micronesia (location/origin)
Oceania (location/origin)
who
Brandeis, Antonie - Collectors

Provenance
Donated by Eugen Brandeis (Imperial Governor of the Marshall Islands) April 1900, collected by Antonie Brandeis (Jaluit) /Donated by Eugen Brandeis (Imperial Governor of the Marshall Islands) April 1900, collected by Antonie Brandeis (Jaluit) Object no. 65 (Object list Antonie Brandeis, 1st consignment April 1900, SAF D.Sm 35/1): "A bone needle for sewing roofs. Iék in adj. jaw of a dolphin". Supplementary description: "The roof is covered with pandanus leaves, which are carefully sewn together with wooden hooks No. 76-79. The individual rows are stapled together by women using bone pins No. 65, then the entire roof is fastened by men." (in: "Bemerkungen zu den dem Museum zu Freiburg /B. übersandten ethnologischen Gegenständen aus den Marshallinseln. South Seas". SAF D.Sm 35/1).

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