BrazilPalm wood spear from Brazil, Americas. Thought to have been collected by Henry Balfour. Purchased by the Museum in 1927.

This beautiful spear is around two metres in length and consists of a stout palm wood shaft and a bone point. The shaft is partly covered with cane work and decorated with feathers. Henry Balfour, the first curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum, purchased it near the Araguaya River, the principal tributary of the Tocantins River, in Pará State, Brazil. In his diary of the trip, Balfour states on Tuesday 9th August 1927 that he went ashore at Pará and "did some rather disappointing shopping. I spent £2-10-0 on Indian spears and arrows etc. for the Museum, but found little else of interest." It would seem this object was one of those he was referring to!