Lot 167 Dα

Cf. Mead, S., Material Culture and Art in the Star Harbour Region, Eastern Solomon Islands, Royal Ontario Museum, Monograph 1, 1973, p.19, pl.4, and Conru, K. and Waite, D., Solomon Islands Art, Milan, 2008, pp.104/105, fig.54
There were three types of skull container, aofa, in the Eastern Solomon Islands. A simple basketry container, tarigau; a model bonito canoe, againi-surina-ainuni; and the shark reliquary, airi. Once the funeral ceremonies had been completed and the skull placed in the shark reliquary, the ancestor was transformed into a living powerful spirit.