Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

fearn · 5th May 2011, 05:00 AM

Hi Tim,

A couple of suggestions. The teeth are functional in that they concentrate the force of the blow. Here's a couple of suggestions for what inspired them:

1) sharks. This should be self-explanatory. This is probably the primary inspiration for the teeth, IMHO.

2) Sawfish bills. I find no mention of sawfish native to Samoa, but these animals apparently do get to Vanuatu, or 1100 nautical miles away, and sawfish bills are weapons all along the western edge of the Pacific

3) Kiribati shark-toothed weapons. Kiribati is about 1200 nautical miles from Samoa, and I *think* they occasionally got into western Polynesia.

Best,

F

5th May 2011, 05:00 AM	#4
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Hi Tim, A couple of suggestions. The teeth are functional in that they concentrate the force of the blow. Here's a couple of suggestions for what inspired them: 1) sharks. This should be self-explanatory. This is probably the primary inspiration for the teeth, IMHO. 2) Sawfish bills. I find no mention of sawfish native to Samoa, but these animals apparently do get to Vanuatu, or 1100 nautical miles away, and sawfish bills are weapons all along the western edge of the Pacific 3) Kiribati shark-toothed weapons. Kiribati is about 1200 nautical miles from Samoa, and I think they occasionally got into western Polynesia. Best, F Last edited by fearn; 5th May 2011 at 10:12 PM.