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Te bekenene

human history
  • Common Name
    Armament T&E, Bludgeon
  • Other Name

    Dagger set with shark's teeth (English)

  • Description

    Te bekenene. Dagger. This is a handheld weapon made of the following materials: te kora (cordage of coconut sennit fibres), wii ni bakoa (sharks teeth) and wood. A length of wood has been obtained. Its curved shaped and direction of grain portray the wood's natural growth. It has been filed to portray a circular cross-section at its base and then tapered into a point upon the top of the bekenene. An exposed section remains at the base for the purpose of a handle.

    After this section, a series of individual wii ni bakoa line the edge of te bekenene. A long furrow has been filed out of the edge of the blade where eight perforations have been drilled from the furrow. Te kora has been threaded through these perforations for attaching an individual wii ni bakoa. Each wii ni bakoa has a drilled perforation through its centre where te kora has been lashed to secure it to the furrow adjacent to the drilled perforations along the blade. The top of te bekenene shows a thin crack from below the point. Similar cracks run along the blade upon the opposite side of the blade. The wood is a mid brown tone and is matte in surface texture.

  • Place
  • Accession Number
    1990.57
  • Accession Date
    06 Mar 1990
  • Other Id

    53460.4 (ethnology)

  • Department
Te bekenene, 1990.57, 53460.4, Photographed by Daan… … Read more

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