Medicine

37-22-306A

From: Sierra Leone | Sherbro Island

Curatorial Section: African

Object Number 37-22-306A
Current Location Collections Storage
Culture Sherbro
Provenience Sierra Leone | Sherbro Island
Section African
Materials Cowrie | Leaf
Description

Snail shell (kongo taw) with roll of pakai (pawpaw) leaves, sprinkled with other pawpaw leaves, charred and powdered, and, thrust through them, a pointed sliver of palm wood. Placed in a plantation to protect it. A trespasser develops a running sore in the jaw, which has been "pierced" by the skewer.

Credit Line Expedition to Sierra Leone, West Africa; Henry Usher Hall, 1937
Other Number 259 - Collector Number

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