Any Amazon collectors?

[colin henshaw]

A good looking group of clubs. Interesting to see variants in the woven grip designs, with those angular contrasting patterns that seem typical of the area.

[Tim Simmons]

New addition to the Amazon collection. It has still to arrive and I only have the one cropped picture. It is the club with the handle uppermost in the pictures. Wayana is only one group that this form may be found. The other pictures are from- the club without teeth additions

Amazonien Indianer der Regenwalder und Savannen, Museum fur Volkerkunde Dresden. Just listed as a flat club.

the other with Jaguar teeth- Arts of the Amazon- Thames and Hudson. Listed as a ceremonial club used by shaman in the ant shield ceremony.

My club has additions of Peccaries teeth. This form of club is found in the rain forest borders of the Guiana's.

This is a very interesting link that helps set the surroundings, about elusive people in this region.

http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.p...File/5298/6065

[Tim Simmons]

I just thought I ought to add this comparison of iconography to what is clearly recognized as Amazonian.

[Tim Simmons]

Finally ready to show this. I know there is limited interest in this sort of thing. Just think about it? yes its not hundreds of years old but it is far from common and I have been informed of its rarity due to evangelism, let alone the small size of population. Poor versions are made for sale. A great deal of the "antique" weapons we collect are very common made in there millions but still seem to be rather expensive.
I have restored the missing tusks, thank you "weapons27" as the tusks were all damaged. Only one of the original tusks was usable after some super glue.

[T. Koch]

Wow, never seen peccary teeth used for anything before! How is the internal structure of the tooth - very much like that of a pig's, I imagine?

Mounted on the club, one can't tell the difference. You've done a good job of replacing them!

Thanks for putting it up Tim. This thread is really interesting, and I'm always excited to see you update with new stuff.


All the best, - Thor

[Tim Simmons]

I had concerns about Peccary v Feral Pig tusks. I do not know if the originals were one or the other. I have put my mind at rest as Feral Pigs have been in South America since the 16th century.

[KuKulzA28]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

Finally ready to show this. I know there is limited interest in this sort of thing.

Don't worry, I'm sure there are those who are intrigued but unable to add much input. It was the same for Taiwanese aborignal knives - it's just not a collector's hot-spot so-to-speak. Nihonto, keris, Moro & Filipino, and Indo-Persian stuff is a whole 'nother story...
I for one am fascinated, but I don't have any authentic vintage/antique clubs or some immense wealth of knowledge ...I just have an old 70+ yr old set of apinaje bow and arrows, and it's Amazonian archery that I have more knowledge on.

More recently collected or not, this club is an example of their material culture, and even if it is a ceremonial-oriented object, or a warclub design no longer (if ever) used in war, it sheds light on what is, what was, and what may have been...

I did find this flat convex edged paddle-like club here at American Museum of Natural History: http://anthro.amnh.org/south

They are attributed to the Wayana - you probably knew already.


What interests me somewhat is that it resembles one of the paddle-club shapes that Walter Roth describes. Essentially Don Arp, Jr. breaks down Guianan clubs as "block", "spatulate", "paddle", and "dagger"... he is mainly drawing upon Walter Roth's work I think.
I am getting my information from here: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/vi...lock%20Club%22
That article has been posted on the Ethno. Arms & Armor forum before, in the macana/aputu thread.

Check page 15, the generalized shapes for the "paddle clubs" have one incomplete sketch on the right that resembles these Wayana clubs... Where-as the left-most I have seen attributed to Kali'na/Caribe and Makushi... and the centeral one I have seen in depictions of Arawaks/Lokonos.


These clubs, having two bulges and a spike remind me of an arawak club:
http://www.americanindian.si.edu/sea...size=75&page=1
which looks relatively similar to the central sketch of paddle clubs in the Aputu article I linked to earlier...

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

Finally ready to show this. I know there is limited interest in this sort of thing. Just think about it? yes its not hundreds of years old but it is far from common and I have been informed of its rarity due to evangelism, let alone the small size of population. Poor versions are made for sale. A great deal of the "antique" weapons we collect are very common made in there millions but still seem to be rather expensive.
I have restored the missing tusks, thank you "weapons27" as the tusks were all damaged. Only one of the original tusks was usable after some super glue.

Very nice restoration. I'm certainly interested in this sort of thing - I just have so little knowledge its hard to know what to say. I will say thank you, because threads like these end up providing more info than the rest of the Internet, particularly because the items in question are actually shown and not just written about.

[Tim Simmons]

Found this picture of the necklace of a Colombian Amazon Indian chief. The tusks have all been trimmed to some degree as I have had to to get the tusks to fit in the holes on the club which is really a cult item rather than a weapon. If you really needed to hit somebody, it would hurt. I am quite happy with the restoration.

[Tim Simmons]

I was emailed these two pictures of thr sort of made for sale versions that are found these days.