Arms and Armour Virtual Collection
  • Home
  • Galleries by Region
    • Africa
    • The Americas
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Oceania
  • Tour by Object Type
    • Archery
    • Blowpipes and darts
    • Clubs
    • Daos, axes, and polearms
    • Firearms
    • Handfighting
    • Metal Armour
    • Non-metal Armour
    • Shields
    • Spears
    • Swords, knives, and daggers
    • Throwing blades and sticks
  • Tour by Theme
    • A Place in History
    • Defining Gender
    • Form and Function
    • Sacred Weapons
    • The Art of War
    • The Beautiful Warrior
    • Warrior Elites
  • PRM Homepage
Home Home » Americas » Palm wood spear (1927.80.1)
49 368 40 60 46 43 41 341 372 373 55 59 223 57 44 48 61 325 45 53
Palm wood spear (1927.80.1)
Previous Previous
Image 20 of 29  
View full size
Next Next
Image 22 of 29  
52 50 56 346 47 51 42 58

Palm wood spear (1927.80.1) 

BrazilBrazilPalm 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!