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Javelin

A hunting spear with obsidian head. The material was also used for the production of knives and was mined chiefly on the small islands of Pom, Mouk and Lou. From here it was traded to the main island Manus. Deep shafts were dug in order to mine the mineral and the miner would spend several days at a time working in them.The spear, as well as other objects in the Oceania collection, were collected by Wilhelm Lebahn, captain of the Imperial Navy survey ship »S.M.S. Planet«, on which the ethnologist, anthropologist and marine doctor Augustin Krämer was also travelling.The Lebahn collection was sold after his death by his brother-in-law Dr. Rudolf Plähn from Waldkirch.

Data Provider
Museen Freiburg Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
Speer
Dimensions
Length: 2650.0 mm
Material/Technique
Obsidian, Wood
Current location
Museum Natur und Mensch
Inventory number
II/0191

Provenance and sources

  • Change of legal title:
    Purchase
    when
    31.07.1907
    who
    Plähn, Rudolf - Former Possessors
  • Change of physical control or legal title
    where
    Admiralty Islands (location/origin)
    Melanesia (location/origin)
    Oceania (location/origin)
    Papua New Guinea (location/origin)
    Bismarck Archipelago (location/origin)
    who
    Lebahn, Wilhelm - Collectors
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Oceania

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC0 1.0 DEED
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