The U'u is a war
club of the
Marquesas Islands
The Marquesas Islands ( ; or ' or ' ; Marquesan language, Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan language, North Marquesan) and ' (South Marquesan language, South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcano, volcanic islands in ...
.
Cut from
iron wood, its shape and large size distinguish it from other Pacific
gunstocks. It was reserved for a caste of warriors who were assisting allied tribes.
The club should at least reach its possessor's armpits. The striking head, although apparently identical, was richly carved, and it is an artistic work with drawings representing lizards, human figures, or
tattoo
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...
patterns.
U'us were left in a
taro
Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...
field, where they turned black, and then were coated with coconut oil.
[
]
Gallery
File:Eastern Pacific lands; Tahiti and the Marquesas islands (1910) (14591559368).jpg, U'u's striking head.
File:War club, Marquesas Islands, 19th century.JPG, U'u war club, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
.
File:Mouina, Chief warrior of the Tayehs Wellcome L0040399.jpg, Tribe chief with a U'u.
File:Nuku Hiva Warrior1.jpg, Nuku Hiva
Nuku Hiva (sometimes spelled Nukahiva or Nukuhiva) is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly also known as ''Île Marchand'' and ''Madison Island''.
Herman M ...
warrior with tattoo and his U'u.
File:U'u, Akau Too - Marquesas.jpg, U'u
References
Bibliography
* John Charles Edler, Terence Barrow, ''Art of Polynesia'', Hemmeter Publishing Corporation, 1990.
* Anthony JP Meyer, ''Art océanien'', Könemann, 1995.
Clubs (weapon)
Ritual weapons
{{Blunt-weapon-stub