ANCIENT ARTIFACT FOUND
Added to website: 10 December 2007
Ancient Stone Club Head found in Giu River
One of Coral Cay’s scientists, Jeff Dawson, has made an intriguing discovery whilst enjoying a leisurely swim in the Giu River. Read below for a more detailed account:
It was another roasting day during survey at the beautiful primary forest site of Ewaga. I was enjoying a swim in the Giu River to cool off from the midday heat when an unusual object caught my eye at the waters edge. Lying half buried in the sand its knobbled surface looked suspiciously like that of a World War 2 hand grenade. On closer inspection however it was clear that it was stone and had clearly been painstakingly carved for a definite purpose; but for what? My suspicions were confirmed by our chef Giri who, looking at it with reverence, confirmed it was a stone club head used during the tribal fighting in years gone by.
The club head, known as ami sasiyang (ah-mee sah-see-yah-ng) in the Zia language, is around 3 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter and provides a tangible link to the warfare of the local Zia tribes past. Ewaga was at the centre of conflict between the Yewa-Wewang clan of the Zia and coastal Yekora tribe who were fighting over land. This conflict occurred 9 generations ago (around 180 – 250 years ago) and whilst oral history does not record the victor it was a precursor to what is known locally as the ‘traditional warfare’ between the Zia and four neighbouring clans.
In a society where metal did not appear until the first German missionaries arrived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth Centuries only natural materials were used to fashion tools and weapons. The smooth central hole was made using a traditional drill, called a kiko (kee-koh). A long stick tipped with a pointed stone would be attached perpendicular to a ‘bow’ made of wood and bush string. As the bow was moved back and forth the main stick would rotate drilling into the rock. Unfortunately, how long this process would take and how many drill bits would be worn away in the process is unknown as the knowledge of how to make and use a kiko has now died out.
A special stone called a gaze (gah-jee) would then be used to shape and smooth it into its final knobbled appearance. Finally, a metre long stick would be fitted through the central hole and the top decorated with the feathers from various birds including cockatoos, hornbills and cassowaries. The ami sasiyang would now be ready to be carried into battle and crush the heads of the enemy. It is said that when a warrior made a kill in battle one of the knobbles on the ami sasiyang would be removed to reflect this and be a record of the warriors’ prowess.
Other traditional weapons employed included stone axes, mapiso (mah-pee-so); knifes made from special palms, dowang and pia pia (doh-wah-ng and pee-ah pee-ah); spears, karua (ka-rue-ah); fighting sticks, bogi (boh-gee) and shields, bemi (beh-mee) made from cane and hard wood. Unlike many other areas and tribes in New Guinea, bows and arrows were never developed meaning all fighting would be done in a close quarter melee.
Whilst there are a few other examples of ami sasiyang’s in the community this is the first to be found in the Giu River and is of cultural importance to the Zia tribe. It is currently being restored to its former glory by WVCP guide Bego Keriso and will be displayed in the school library for all the community to see.
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Jeff Dawson, Project Scientist
