Wiethase: Bows and Arrows, Blowpipes and Spears of Oceania

An exhaustive and detailled study of the long distance weapons of Oceania.

The most common definition of the term „Oceania“ describes the three areas Melanesia (from the Greek mela (s) for „black“ and nēsoi for „islands“), Micronesia (from the Greek mikros for „small“ and nēsoi for „islands“) and Polynesia (from the Greek polýs for „many“ and nēsoi for „islands“).
The English name Oceania encompasses the region of French Océanie, Dutch Oceanië, German Ozeanien, Spanish Oceanía and Portuguese Oceânia.
These areas, somewhat different in their extent, sometimes with Borneo, sometimes without, sometimes with a part of the Philippines, sometimes without, etc., were named by the namesake countries Portugal, France, Spain, Great Britain, the USA, the German Empire and the Netherlands from their own point of view set as a colonial power.
Today, most of the islands in this region in the Pacific (North and South) and Indian Oce- ans, the Banda Sea, the Philippine, Chinese and Coral Seas are largely independent or still considered to be the property of a „foreign“ state.

This book describes the arrows, bows, quivers, pellet bows, blowpipes, spears and throwing sticks of Oceania based on historical works and various private and museum collections on 436 pages with more than 500 mostly colour photographs, more than 230 illustrations, 11 maps, 45 plates, a register of the most important search terms, as well as a detailed literature register.
A must have for anyone interested in indigenous archery, enthology, Oceanic culture, or the history of long distance weapons in general!

Hardcover., 436 pp., more than 500 (mostly full colour) photographs, more than 230 illustrations, 11 maps, 45 tables.Text in English, German edition available here.

With the book comes a 4 paged A4 folder, which helps checking your collection without carrying the book with you.