MAORI TOOL OR WEAPON
 

UNUSUAL MAORI TOOL CLOSED ON EBAY #250976903256 DESCRIBED AS EITHER A PATU ARUHE FOR BEATING FERN ROOTS FOR FOOD OR PERHAPS A TA WHAKAIRO CARVERS MALLETT. 30.4 CM. LONG JUST OVER A FOOT LONG. SEE 3 PICTURES OF THE EBAY ITEM AND ONE REFRENCE PICTURE OF A CARVERS MALLETT NOTE THE WEAR WHERE THIS WAS USED TO STRIKE A CHISEL. THE EBAY EXAMPLE DOES NOT HAVE THIS WEAR.
A TOOL OR A POSSIBLE WEAPON ?? PERHAPS SOMEONE HAS A GOOD REFRENCE ON THESE ITEMS.?

It could well be Maori. It looks like it might have been bound at so time more a Melanesian thing? These pictures are from "The Maori Collection Of The British Museum." you can get it from Amazon and Oxbow books. These plain short wooded clubs are called "Patuki"

825 is 44.5cm long
827 33.5cm
819 43.5cm
823 35.5cm


Without the museum say so one would be at a loss to say for sure where these came from. I have an Amazon club of similar form to 827. The ebay club does make me think of the Solomons.

Some more. These are published as weapons from the Chatam Islands. However when clubs like these are not a beating or cracking tool or of other kind is anybodies guess.

Hello, to me the tool offered on Ebay looks more like a tool to split big fruits or coconuts than a club; hence the particular piramid-shaped end to bash into the coconutfibers and with the flat end one would hit the coconut inside to open it.
This theory would perhaps seem a bit far streched to those (us) who are not familiar to handling coconuts, but this is how it is done; and especially when one didnt have a iron machete!

IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE TO ME. THE SHAPE OF THIS CLUB WOULD INDEED SERVE WELL AS AN IMPLEMENT TO OPEN A COCONUT, CHOP UP OR MASH A BREADFRUIT AND EVEN AS A CARVERS MALLET OR FERN ROOT MASHER. IT ALSO HAS THE PROPER SHAPE OF A PATU CLUB AND NO DOUBT COULD FULFILL THAT FUNCTION ALSO.
I SUSPECT OTHER TYPES OF MALLETS OR TOOLS WOULD WORK MUCH BETTER AS A CARVERS TOOL AND THE ADZ WAS THE COMMON TOOL FOR THE LARGER WORK AND THE WIDTH OF THIS CLUB WOULD INTERFERE WITH THE CARVERS ABILITY TO SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING ON SMALL FINE WORK. BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN USED FOR SUCH BECAUSE IT WAS AVALABLE BY SOME INDIVIDUALS, AT LEAST THE ONE PICTURED WAS USED AS SUCH.
EARLY MAORI UNLIKE MORE MODERN MAN AND MAORI HAD FEW BELONGINGS AND THE FEW THINGS THEY CARRIED MAY HAVE BEEN USED FOR MANY DIFFERENT USES KIND OF LIKE A SWISS ARMY KNIFE. :)
THE PATU FORM SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN WIDELY CARRIED MOST OF THE TIME. WOMEN ARE OFTEN PICTURED WITH THEM AND MAY HAVE OWNED AND USED THEM. NO DOUBT THE SHORT CLUB DID HAVE AN IMPORTANT PLACE IN MAORI SOCIETY AND WAS CARRIED MORE OFTEN IN DAILY LIFE THAN THE LARGER WAR CLUBS. PERHAPS FOR PRESTIEGE AND AS A MULTI TOOL AS WELL. JUST LOGICAL CONJECTURE ON MY PART, BUT OFTEN TRIBAL CUSTOM OR TAPU HAS SOME THINGS ILLOGICAL AS WELL. :shrug:

Actually this topic is has brought up something quite interesting as there might be a relation between the Patu as a weapon or ceremonial object and the idea of using the coconut-basher-tool as a weapon! 'If it can crack a coconut than it must be able to crack a skull aswell' they <perhaps> must have thought. :eek:
Also the relation between women/female objects and warfare is widespread in whole S.E-Asia (and oceania?).

I honestly dont have enough knowledge about the Maori culture to give a founded view on this possible relation or developement. Anyone?

Thanks for posting Vandoo!