beater, bark cloth

'While women usually make the tapa for ordinary clothing as in the rest of the Pacific, a major feature of Papua New Guinea tapa is the prominent role of male craftsmen, especially in the making and decorating of tapa that will be used on ritual occasions as dress-clothing and for masks and figures. And unlike most Pacific tapa beaters which are made of wood, those os Papua New Guinea may also be made of shell (as in the Admiralty Islands and parts of New Britain), or stone (as in the eastern highlands and Huon Gulf.' Neich and Pendergrast, 'Pacific Tapa', 1997.