Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Tebarantauti

Here's a word I bet you didn't know: a tebarantauti was a war helmet made by people of the Gilbert Islands from porcupine fish. This one is from Kiribati and dates to the 19th century. Now in the British Museum.

1 comment:

leif said...

for reasons i should really ask about, when i was a kid there was an inflated, dried porcupine fish skin in our house. it weighed next to nothing and its barbs were ridiculously sharp. i really wouldn't want to be the squire to that warrior.