Whale teeth artefacts in the western Solomon Islands: Tuhinga 17

Tuhinga 17: 69 - 79

ABSTRACT:A small whale’s tooth from the Solomon Islands, now in Te Papa, was found to have four very small holes drilled obliquely midway between its ends. Close attention to the form and function of these small holes indicated that this tooth had probably been drilled to enable it to be hung horizontally from its middle. The nature of the holes and the weakness of the ‘bridges’ between them make it unlikely that these teeth were worn as ornaments, but rather that they were hung or suspended in a stationary way, such as above tambu grave sites. This hypothesis was tested subsequently during fieldwork in the western Solomon Islands, and by examining whales’ teeth in various museum collections. These whale teeth now seem to have been an early, previously undescribed, traditional art form limited to some parts of the western Solomon Islands. However, this old form with tiny, hair-like holes apparently evolved into various new forms soon after foreign traders arrived, from about 1880 onwards, with many more teeth for sale. It is only later forms, based on the wearing of Fijian tambua as breast ornaments, that are recalled now by Solomon Islanders.

KEYWORDS: Melanesian art forms, Solomon Islands, whale teeth ornaments, artefact evolution.

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