The Dynamics of Meaning – the Aché Ritual Combat Club „tõ-mombú“ and the Interpretation of Ritual Objects

Abstract

Occasionally the complex meaning of objects in ethnographic collections is hidden behind an unpretentious outward appearance as in case of the „tõ-mombú“, a ritual combat club of the Aché, a formerly nomadic ethnic group in Paraguay. At first glance a simple, rudder-shaped wooden stick, a closer view of the object reveals several social, religious, and political meanings that depend on the cultural context. The object as an object of the museum collection is subjected to academic classification and interpretation, which can change over time and be ordered into different perspectives. The characteristics and the complexity of the object however, are not easily categorizable, as I want to present in the following contribution. For, besides the cultural and ritual contextualization, there are other aspects such as the biography of the object and connected dynamics, which contribute to its meaning.