Mere (weapon)

The mere is a spatulate, leaf shaped, form of short club. It has a broad, rounded apex that narrows to form a handle, terminating in a butt or heel (reke), marked by several grooves. Mere have two convex, almost flat sides and a rounded top. The top of the mere was ground to a sharp edge, extending down both sides of the weapon. Generally, short clubs had holes carved or drilled through the butt end of the handle, allowing a wrist cord (tau or patui) made of plaited New Zealand flax, or Polynesian dog skin, to be passed through and attached to the wielder's wrist. Passing the wrist cord over the thumb and around the hand prevented the club from slipping during use. Mere are between , with an average length of . The width of a mere is similarly variable, from under 7 to over 12 centimetres (3 to 5 in). The dimensions of a mere were generally determined by the characteristics of the raw materials the club was made from. Extremely long or short mere are unwieldy in combat, and are likely to have been mainly used for ceremonial purposes. == Material and manufacture ==

While the term mere was, and is, used in some regions to refer exclusively to clubs made from pounamu, == Usage ==

) Combat Mere, and other patu, were used for close-quarter fighting. Held in one hand, these close-range striking weapons were used primarily for end-on thrusting or jabbing (tipi). In combat, jabbing thrusts or strikes would be directed at the ribs, neck or temple. It has been claimed that a strike to the skull combined with a twisting flick of the wrist could force or wrench the victim's skull open. than a patu of wood or bone, and much tougher – less likely to fracture – than a patu onawe of any other type of stone. It was stated that a proficient warrior armed with a patu was able to defeat a man armed with a longer weapon, like a taiaha or a spear. A fighter using a patu often used a type of pad (whakapuru), held or on the off-side arm, used to parry or lessen the impact of an opposing weapon. It was considered an honour to be killed by a specially significant mere pounamu. Captives would sometimes volunteer their own mere pounamu as their means of execution rather than be killed by a lesser weapon. and it retains this symbolic importance today. The mere is shown as one of the features of the Māori Kotahitanga flag, where it is crossed with a scroll representing the Treaty of Waitangi. ==See also==