A Pair of Fine Old Australian Aboriginal Spears from Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia
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| Collection No. | Pair of Arnhem Land Spears |
|---|---|
| Size | 67cm - 72cm |
A Pair of Fine Old Australian Aboriginal Spears from Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia. Dating from the late 19th – Early 20th Century
This pair of old Arnhem Land Spears shows the great skill of the artist who made them. The Stone Spear Heads are expertly flaked to get very sharp edges & points. They were then hafted on wood shafts bound with fiber string & resin to hold them strongly, after the spears were functionally strong the artist took the time to ochre paint the area just below the stone tips. These two spears were likely cut down from their original 2 to 3-meter length, this was often done when collected in a remote area and then needed to transport them back to their new home.
Spears are traditionally used for hunting and fishing, and as a weapon to administer tribal law, self-defense, or acts of aggression. Spears would have been used with Woomera Spear Throwers to make them fly further & with great accuracy to hit running animals like Kangaroo
While many spears had wooden tips, those across northern Australia, like these examples were made with fine blades of silcrete and quartzite. These were associated with magical qualities, which were believed to improve accuracy for the operator.
Long stone blades with sharp edges, known by archaeologists as “Leilira blades “. The term ‘Leilira blade’ refers to very long flaked blades made in central and northern Australia that are triangular or trapezoidal in cross-section. They are made by ‘flaking’ – removing a small piece of rock from a large piece, called a core, by striking it with a hammerstone. The core is usually held in the hand or rested in the person’s lap or on the ground. Often one or both edges of the blade are retouched to create a dentated or notched edge or a rounded end.
Leilira blades are usually made from quartzite, a hard metamorphic rock that varies in colour from white to dark grey, but slate and other stones are also used.
Leilira blades are up to 20 cm long and were used to butcher animals, to create cicatrice (raised) scars on people and in male circumcision. They were also used as spearheads in the Northern Territory, central Australia and western Queensland,
Provenance: Old Collection Australia Early 20th Century & The Todd Barlin Collection of Aboriginal & New Guinea Art
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