Ornament ki’i teunga

Humphrey No. 93: ‘a bone Trinket, done in imitation of pink mouth poached egg Cowry (a new species of shell peculiar to the Friendly Isles from ditto.’

The form of a snail or seashell is carved out of bone. According to Plischke (1939: 138), this could have been a Septa tritonis, used in the Pacific as a signalling horn. The piece is perforated. ‘Earring(?)’ is written on the file card. As with the other pieces, the type of ornament involved can most probably not be determined. Inken Köhler, Ulrike Rehr, Gundolf Krüger

Source

Plischke, Hans, Ein Brustschmuck von Tonga-tabu und die Verarbeitung von Walknochen in Polynesien, Nachrichten von der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philologisch-Historische Klasse, Fachgruppe II, Berlin, 1939, vol. 2, no 7.