Arrow

This arrow came to the museum in 1848 but was collected as early as 1769 during the first voyage of James Cook. He was on his ship Endeavour and reached the southernmost corner of South America, Tierra del Fuego, where he berthed at a strait called Le-Mair.

On board was one of Linnaeus' most outstanding protégés, Daniel Solander, born and bred in Piteå. He disembarked the ship on 15 January 1769. They came across some people they had never seen before and who certainly had not seen them before, or any Europeans. The acquaintances got off to a good start. They gave them some colored glass beads and some colored ribbons. Some of them were taken on board. They were likely a group called Haush, that no longer exists, who lived down in the south east corner of Tierra del Fuego. When they went on board they were offered brandy, which they could not drink. That was a sign that they had not been in contact with Europeans before.

The next day, Daniel Solander and Josef Banks headed for the mountains and encountered the very unpredictable weather of Tierra del Fuego. They almost froze to death on the way back when they ran into a snowstorm. But they managed to make their way back to the Endeavour.

They went ashore again on the 20th when they then found some huts and managed to make contact with the people there. They traded four of these arrows, and they were probably the only hunting tools they had, they also got a bow.

There would have been an arrow head on it and at this time it would with all probability have been made of stone. Later on, glass was traded with other travelers and glass arrow heads could be made.

Daniel Solander kept it close to hand during the long return voyage, it ended up in London and then in Västergötland. In 1848 it fell into the hands of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.