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This large neck ornament from the Hawaiian Islands in Polynesia
is made from plaited human hair, with a hook-shaped whale’s
tooth suspended from the centre. This object was collected in the
early nineteenth century, when Hawaiian society was very hierarchical.
Both men and women of high status wore these neck ornaments, known
as lei niho palaoa, as signs of rank. They were particularly
valued because of their use of hair, which had great spiritual importance.
View database record 1886.1.1270
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