Weapon; Club

54.160.262

Information

A taiaha (long club/fighting staff) with one end (the head) carved in the shape of a tongue with a human face on either side of the shaft below it, the other end is a smooth blade. The surface decoration on the tongue is double spirals formed by haehae (parallel grooves) and ridges with pakati (dog's-tooth notches). Two eyes are shell-inlaid. There is a hole through the shaft which may be a natural fault in the wood.