Adze with greenstone blade attached to wood handle; rattan binding; used mainly for shaping Casuarina wood planks for houses and as a general cutting tool carried around by the men hooked over one shouler or over the head (in the carrying net on long trips). Women sometimes also owned adzes but carry them only in the net. For splitting the Casuarina they use wood wedges driven with a stone into sections of trunk cut with the adze. Casuarina trees are individually owned near the village but village owned further away. Adzes also used for cutting firewood. The men’s houses have more and better planks than the dwellings. Casuarina is the only non food-producing tree of sufficient importance to be regarded as property to be owned and controlled. Adzes are also used as weapons in brawls. No axes are used or known
Donor:
Klaus Koch and University Appropriation
Collection place:
Pasikni Village, Central Jalemo, West Papua Province
Culture or time period:
Indonesian cultures and Yali people
Materials:
Greenstone (rock)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Adzes
Function:
1.6 Manufacturing, Constructing, Craft, and Professional Pursuits