The Material Culture of the Cook Islands (Aitutaki)
Pig Ropes, Taura puaka
Pig Ropes, Taura puaka.
Pig ropes consisted of a round four-ply rope with a flat band containing a hole through which the rope was passed, Fig. 67D.
The better form of pig rope shown in Fig. 67D is made with four strands of bast. At their mid-part they are plaited for about 1½ inches into a round rope. This plaited part is passed round the stake and the four strands from either side plaited into a flat band as before, except that there are eight plaiting strips instead of four. The technique, however, is exactly similar. In the sample figured, the plaited band is almost 1½ inches wide. Four and one-quarter inches from the near edge of the hole, the eight strands are collected into four and plaited into a four-ply round rope. The rope is six-tenths of an inch in diameter.
If flat bands made by a check plait are to be treated as coming under cords and ropes, the band of the pig-rope may be treated as a variety of four-ply rope. Similarly, the second type of band may be treated as an eight-ply rope. There may be other variations that served specific purposes in ancient times, but if so, their name and technique have vanished with the peculiar needs that called them into being.