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The first measurement references the total length of the arrow, the
second describes the head length from the end of the shaft. Objects are described from left to right.
1. Buka Island in the North Solomons Province of Papua New Guinea. This arrow has a blackpalm head with four barbs and orchid fiber decoration. It also has the characteristic Solomons Islands incised black-line markings on the shaft (out of view).
(138.5/33.9 cm). Cat. No. LF/X11A.
2. Biami Tribe, Nomad River, Western Province, Papua New Guinea. It has a rounded palmwood head with square sections filled with red and brown pigments.
(135.9/43.5 cm). Cat. No. LF/X41C.
3. Another from Buka Island. This example has a blackpalm head with twelve small barbs and an aperture cut into the swelling below the barbs. (138.7/28.5 cm). Cat. No. LF/X9B.
4. Malaita, Solomon Islands. This arrow has a round palmwood foreshaft with nine bone barbs, bound on with bast, alternating in a spiral. It is also decorated with orchid fiber plaiting. (126.7/24 cm). Cat. No. LF/X15A.
5. Santa Cruz Island group at the southeastern tip of the Solomon Islands. This distinctively beautiful arrow is readily recognizable as being different from the other Solomons arrows illustrated. The upper part of the arrowhead is covered with fine wickerwork, which is itself covered with a brown paste, and the lower part is decorated with abstract motifs filled with brown and white pigments. (112.8/44.6 cm). Cat. No. LF/X10B.
6. Probably from the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea or from a linguistically related people to the north in the Schrader or Bismarck Ranges of southern Madang Province. This is an example of a hunting arrow found throughout New Guinea that is used for hunting birds, small tree-dwelling marsupials or, in riverine and coastal areas, also for fishing. It has four lightly barbed palmwood prongs bound to a reed shaft. (112.8/18 cm). Cat. No. LF/X64C.
7. Mendi Valley, Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea. This has a palmwood foreshaft carved with designs filled with white and encrusted with yellow, white, and red beads. It has a short bone tip. (109.6/35 cm).
Cat. No. LF/X25B.
8. Another from the Mendi Valley. Its palmwood foreshaft is carved with designs filled with white and red, and it has a bone point. (116/35.5 cm). Cat. No. LF/X25F.
9. Another from the Mendi Valley. This example has a palmwood foreshaft carved into a graceful spiral design, with the grooves filled with red and white pigment. It also has a point that is almost certainly of human bone.
(107.1/38.6 cm). Cat. No. LF/X25E.
10. Biami tribe, Nomad River, Western Province, Papua New Guinea. This arrow has a barbed bone head attached to a short palmwood foreshaft with bast covered with a red pigment. (129.7/19.5). Cat. No. LF/X39A.
11. Telefomin, Papua New Guinea. It has a round carved and painted palmwood head. (134/33.5 cm). Cat. No. LF/X68B.
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