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Te tanai

human history
  • Other Name

    Hafted adze tool

    Wiin te tanai

  • Description

    Te tanai. Hafted adze tool. This is a tool made from three material components: te aubunga (tridacna gigas; clam shell), te kora (coconut sennit fibre) and wood. It would be used for cutting into hard material. The handle component is wooden and forked at one end. Its surface texture portrays a vertical grain and the forked end has been filed to create a wedge for te tanai (adze blade) to be lashed to. Te tanai has been carved from te aubunga into a triangular shape.

    It shows a sharpened edge that would make contact with hard materials when in use. The shells original convex form and exterior is still present. The exterior shows curved ridges that define the shells lines of growth. It is thick in depth and off-white in colour with some varied grey tones. The underside is smooth in surface texture. The tanai has been lashed with a 2-ply golden, brown kora to hold in place of the forked area of the handle.

  • Place
    Beru/Gilbert Islands/Kiribati
  • Accession Number
    1936.295
  • Accession Date
    1936
  • Other Id

    24123 (ethnology)

  • Department

    Pacific

Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply

Images and documents

Images

  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te tanai, 1936.295, 24123, Cultural Permissions Apply

Artefact

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