Study cited in Atlas Obscura report on daggers made from human bones
A study conducted by researchers from Dartmouth College, University of Colorado Denver, and University of Maine was cited in the Atlas Obscura article, “New Guineans made intricately carved daggers from human bones.” For decades, groups in northern New Guinea used bone daggers during close combat, making anthropologists wonder how the weapons withstood the blunt force of brutal battles without breaking, according to the article. To study this, the team of researchers, including UMaine anthropology professor Paul “Jim” Roscoe, acquired five human bone and six cassowary daggers from the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College and a private dealer. Through a series of tests, the researchers determined the human bone weapons were far stronger than the cassowary daggers, the article states. This superiority, the researchers explained, is likely due to the curved structure of the human bone daggers.