Shark Tooth Sword, 19th century

Micronesian (Republic of Kiribati)
Shark Tooth Sword, 19th century
shark teeth, wood, coconut fiber, leaf, and human hair
14.2013

Micronesian people have inhabited the Gilbert Islands, a chain of sixteen atolls in the Pacific Ocean, for more than two thousand years. The Gilbertese traditionally made a variety of weapons for use in tribal warfare and violent family feuds—from daggers to swords to spears up to eighteen feet long. Many of them utilize the teeth of sharks, significant animals in both local mythology and fishing economy. In April 2013, these weapons made significant scientific news. Conservation biologists from Columbia University who examined the teeth’s shapes and serration patterns were able to determine the species of shark that provided the source. Two of those species, dusky sharks and spotfin sharks, are known in other waters but not those around the Gilberts, revealing that they were once plentiful there and are now fished out.