A beautiful old spear thrower ( atlatl ) made out of bamboo with a rattan wrapped handle and a very nice hardwood carving of a hornbill tied just above the handle. The dart is pressed against the side of the hornbill carving during the arm rotation and held in place until the dart is released. The dart has a base made out of a small diameter bamboo rod and the pointed tip is made out of a dark palm material. The two pirces are tightly bound together. This spear thrower was originally collected at Manam Island. This spear thrower is in very nice condition. I have owned it since 1984 and it was old when I acquired it from a gallery that stocked their artifacts from European auction houses. There are very small splits in the bamboo as a result of moisture loss over time, but no impact damage. The hornbill carving is exceptional. This is one of the best PNG spear throwers I have seen and the only one that included the dart.