One of the rarest classes of Indonesian textiles, these enigmatic cloths stopped being woven long ago, although the technique has recently been resurrected to make fakes which have started appearing on the market because of their extreme desirability. Tali tau batu feature a complex warp-faced weave that produces slits within the textile, which are then tied with wild banana fiber resists and dip dyed after it has been taken off the loom. Although this dying process is very akin to ikat, the difference is that with ikat the warp or weft (sometimes both) are tie-dyed before the threads are woven, whereas this custom of what might be called ikating after being woven is unique to the Rongkong area of the central Sulawesi highlands. The name tali tau batu comes from "wrapping the stone men" which could be referring to tieing these cloths around phaliform megaliths, erected during great funeral ceremonies in memory of kings. Its other name pewo refers to loin cloth which also makes sense in this context. This is one of the few textiles of its type to ever come on the market and came with a stunning provenance.