Ritual form and permutation in New Guinea: implications of symbolic process for socio‐political evolution

Abstract

Ritual and religion have had an important impact upon political dynamics and societal size in many Melanesian societies, especially prior to Western influence. In the Strickland‐Bosavi area, the rituals of several societies appear as structural transformations of one another, but with crucial pragmatic differences. Ritual belief helped preclude some intergroup contacts, while facilitating others to the point of cultural amalgamation and political expansion. Religious and symbolic processes must be considered on a par with social‐structural, economic, and ecological factors in explaining cultural development and political evolution, [ritual, structuralism, evolution, Melanesia, Strickland‐Bosavi]