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Puga

human history
  • Other Name

    Sinker (English)

  • Description

    Puga. Sinker. This puga is made from makapihi (redeposited limestone) and would have been attached to an afo (fishing line) to be used during fishing. The brown fibre encasing the puga is taken from the bark of the ovava (banyan tree) which was also a common material used for afo (fishing line). The puga itself is ovoid or egg-shaped in form and is slightly wider at the bottom and narrower towards the top.

    Its colour includes milky white patches, and light brown or amber shades that are layered around the puga in rings or lines that are slightly translucent in places. This crystal-like quality also makes the puga semi-iridescent when the light hits it at different angles. The texture of the puga's surface is very smooth with only a few sections at the bottom of the rock that are abrasive and rough. These occur where white clusters of limestone have been exposed and not completely ground smooth. The ovava fibre encasing consists of four vertical lines roughly positioned at right angles to one another at the top of the puga, running down towards the base. Intersecting these four strands is a single lateral line running around the body of the puga, further reinforcing them and ensuring that the puga is secured. The four vertical strands are knotted at the top of the puga and then again further along its length to create a loop that would allow it to be fastened to the afo.

  • Place
  • Accession Number
    1980.276
  • Accession Date
    11 Mar 1980
  • Other Id

    48735 (ethnology)

  • Department
Puga, 1980.276, 48735, Photographed by Richard Ng, digital,… … Read more

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