Aluminium Needles
date: label: Accession Date
content: 7 Nov 2019
label: Collection Date
content: 25 May 2012
name: label: Collector
content: Dr Barbara Andersen
notes: label: Notes
content: Donor notes: Gift to donor from the maker, Joanna Memsong.Two needles used for looping bilums. Constructed from the aluminum supporting tines of broken umbrellas. Most bilum needles are recycled from umbrellas. The 'eye' of the needle is part of the umbrella's mechanism and does not need to be drilled; the end of the needle is sharpened by filing either with a commercial file or against flat stones or pavement. Recycled needles are sometimes sold in marketplaces, but many women wait for an umbrella to break and make their own, or borrow needles from friends and family. Factory-made needles of a size suitable for bilum looping are rarely seen.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 20 Mar 2018
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Unknown
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2077517
label: USNM Number
content: E435223-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Needle
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 7.1 cm