Papuan Gulf Research Articles

Rethinking agency in hiri exchange relationships on Papua New Guinea’s south coast: Oral traditions and archaeology

The maritime hiri exchange system spanned up to 350 km of Papua New Guinea’s south coast, connecting ceramicist Motu with Papuan Gulf villagers who produced large quantities of sago palm (Metroxylon sagu) starch and rainforest logs. Archaeological and ethnographic evidence for the development of the hiri derives mostly from the Motu end of the exchange system. As a result, the Motu are often typecast as adventurous protagonists and Papuan Gulf peoples as passive “recipients” of specialised trade goods (pottery and shell valuables). We trace historical understandings of the hiri and outline the dynamic transformations that took place in this exchange network from the early colonial era to the mid-1950s. We introduce oral traditions recorded in Orokolo Bay in 2015 and ethnography from nearby communities which provide a Papuan Gulf lens through which to see the exchange network. Papuan Gulf peoples assert that their ancestors initiated the hiri in the cosmological past and helped maintain it through reverse-hiri (bevaia) voyages in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Inter-generational exchange partnerships were cultivated and sometimes cemented through temporary adoption. We conclude by drawing out some under-appreciated social dimensions of the hiri’s history and avenues for future research.

Papuan Gulf spirit boards and detecting social boundaries: a preliminary investigation. In From Field to Museum—Studies from Melanesia in Honour of Robin Torrence, ed. Jim Specht, Val Attenbrow, and Jim Allen

This paper is an exploratory investigation of Papuan Gulf spirit boards. These ceremonial items and their designs were owned by clans and other patrilineal groups and comprised an important aspect of traditional ceremonial life. During the early contact period, they were intensively collected by Europeans and now appear among world-wide museum holdings of Papua New Guinea material culture. The Australian Museum has an extensive collection of spirit boards that provide the primary data for this study. Here spirit board design elements are analysed to understand how they are distributed between or only retained within cultural groups living in the east-central Papuan Gulf. The paper also examines ways to analyse spirit board designs.

Worked bone and teeth from Orokolo Bay in the Papuan Gulf (Papua New Guinea)

Ethnographic records show that people from Orokolo Bay in the Papuan Gulf (Papua New Guinea) made, used, and exchanged artefacts made from bone and teeth during the twentieth century. Archaeologically, these kinds of artefacts are poorly documented, partly because osseous materials tend to decay rapidly in exposed tropical rainforest sites. Where these artefacts have been found in the Papuan Gulf, only a few have been reported in detail. Here we contribute detailed analyses of eight osseous artefacts from the past village site of Popo which date to within the period 770–220 cal BP. We describe a modified shark tooth, a drilled or pierced dog tooth ornament, several bone points, and a trapezoidal section of modified bone. An ochred bone point shows that people applied pigment to material culture in the period 540–285 cal BP; the item is the only known archaeological evidence for pigment use on bone in the Papuan Gulf. Our analyses provide a starting point for historicising the use of osseous artefacts in this part of the Papuan Gulf.

Two new damselflies of the genus Idiocnemis Selys from Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea (Odonata: Platycnemididae)

Two new species of the genus Idiocnemis Selys, 1886 from southern Papua New Guinea are described: Idiocnemis lakekamuensis sp. nov. from the Lakekamu Basin and I. milou sp. nov. from Lakekamu and the Kikori River lowlands. Males and females are illustrated and compared with other species of the Idiocnemis bidentata group. Both new species are known only from the Papuan Gulf Foreland area of endemism and may be considered endemic to it.

Indigenous Intermediaries: New Perspectives on Exploration ArchivesBrokers and Boundaries: Colonial Exploration in Indigenous Territory

Indigenous Intermediaries: New Perspectives on Exploration ArchivesBrokers and Boundaries: Colonial Exploration in Indigenous Territory

Idiocnemis schorri sp. nov., a new damselfly species from southern Papua New Guinea (Odonata: Platycnemididae).

Idiocnemis schorri sp. nov. is described from the Hindenburg and Muller Ranges and the Kikori River Basin of southern Papua New Guinea. The new species differs from all congeners by, among other characters, a unique colour pattern on the thorax. Characters of males and females are illustrated and compared to those of similar species from the Idiocnemis bidentata group. The new species is found along small, shallow rainforest streams and is currently known only from the Trans-Fly Foreland and Papuan Gulf Foreland areas of endemism.

Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art and Society in the Papuan Gulf of New Guinea (review)

Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art and Society in the Papuan Gulf of New Guinea (review)

Robert L. Welsch, Virginia-Lee Webb, Sebastien Haraha, Coaxing the Spirits to Dance, Art and Society in the Papuan Gulf of New Guinea

Robert L. Welsch, Virginia-Lee Webb, Sebastien Haraha, Coaxing the Spirits to Dance, Art and Society in the Papuan Gulf of New Guinea

Epilogue: The Authenticity of Constructed Art Worlds

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgments ROBERT L. WELSCH is Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, and Adjunct Curator of Anthropology at the Field Museum, Chicago. A specialist on the art and material culture of Melanesia and Indonesia, he has conducted fieldwork among the Ningerum of Papua New Guinea, the Mandar of South Sulawesi, and along the Sepik Coast and in the Papuan Gulf of Papua New Guinea. He is the author of An American Anthropologist in Melanesia: A. B. Lewis and the Joseph N. Field South Pacific Expedition, 1999–1913 [University of Hawai'i Press, 1998], and coeditor of Hunting the Gatherers: Ethnographic Collectors, Agents and Agency in Melanesia, 1870s–1930s [Berghahn Books, 2000] and Pacific Art: Persistence, Change and Meaning [Crawford House, 2002]. robert.l.welsch@dartmouth.edu

The success of pre-stack depth migration over the Anama structure in the Papuan Foreland Basin, PNG: a case history

The successful application of Pre-Stack Depth Migration (PreSDM) over the Anama structure has been demonstrated by the recent drilling of the Anama-1 well. The effectiveness of traditional depth conversion methodologies is limited in the Papuan Gulf Area due to significant lateral velocity variations introduced by thick Tertiary carbonates, channelling and shallow gas accumulations in Pliocene-Recent sediments. As a result the validity of Mesozoic structural closures previously drilled in the offshore Papuan Foreland Basin is highly questionable. Sparse well control, and stacking velocities significantly affected by raypath distortions, hinders the definition of accurate velocity fields. In an attempt to resolve these limitations and improve the accuracy of the interpreted velocity fields, PreSDM was applied to a modern 2D seismic grid acquired in 1998. Detailed velocity interpretation was conducted using coherency inversion across the seismic grid over the entire Anama structure. The resultant velocity model was tied across the seismic data set prior to generating the PreSDM sections. The final depth interpretation was completed on a workstation using the PreSDM sections. The PreSDM based depth map was used to locate the Anama-1 well. A depth closure was identified with the interpretation of the PreSDM sections where no valid closure was present in the time domain. Drilling results from Anama-1 showed the maximum error for predicted tops based on the PreSDM processing was within 1.2% while the error for the predicted top target sand was less than 0.5%. PreSDM processing is principally aimed at improving imaging and lateral continuity. However by tying the velocity model used in the PreSDM processing across a seismic grid it was possible to improve the accuracy of absolute depths without detrimentally affecting both imaging and lateral continuity. In this case history it was possible to use PreSDM as a predictive tool for absolute depths.

Notes on the Ownership and Utilization of Sago, and on Social Change, among the Moveave‐Toaripi of the Papuan Gulf

Between September and October, 1977, I conducted an ethnobotanical survey at two different places in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea. The first was Moveave village situated near the confluence of the Tauri and Lakekamu rivers, East Kerema, and the second Mapaio village located at the fringes of the lower Purari Delta.1 The aim of my research was to locate an ecological area where sago (poi) swamps were of considerable importance in the people's socioeconomic life. Hence, I concentrated, first, on the people's actual knowledge and perception of their own taxonomic system, and also their vernacular nomenclature of sago palms, and, second, on patterns of behaviour related to the division of labour and ownership of sago palms, and on the technology of exploitation and methods of utilization of the sago swamps. The relationship between these aspects and the use of cash raises an issue of some interest.

Don’T Leave Without a Guide PenelopeHope, Long Ago is Far Away: Accounts of the Early Exploration and Settlement of the Papuan Gulf Area, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1979, xiii-264, pp., A$14.50.

Pacific ViewpointVolume 22, Issue 1 p. 96-97 Book ReviewFree Access Don’T Leave Without a Guide Penelope Hope, Long Ago is Far Away: Accounts of the Early Exploration and Settlement of the Papuan Gulf Area, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1979, xiii-264, pp., A$14.50. Ann Chowning, Ann Chowning Victoria University of WellingtonSearch for more papers by this author Ann Chowning, Ann Chowning Victoria University of WellingtonSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 May 1981 https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.221012AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume22, Issue1May 1981Pages 96-97 RelatedInformation

Genetic surveys from the Central, Morobe and Northern Districts, Papua New Guinea.

The results of blood group surveys on a number of linguistic groups inhabiting contiguous areas within the Goilala sub-district of the Central District, the southern part of the Morobe District and the Northern District are reported. Altogether about 1900 subjects were tested, but the extent of testing varied. Red cell enzyme and serum protein systems were also investigated in two groups. Similarities and dissimilarities of blood group distributions are noted, as also are some possible gene gradients among peoples living to the north of the main divide. Two groups, the Kuni/Tauade of the Goilala sub-district, and the Roro/Kovio living towards the Papuan Gulf coast seem well distinguished from the remainder. Genetic distances were calculated for five populations north of the divide, and agree with the geographical and linguistic situation. The Weri people of the middle Waria provided an example of Hp 2-1 modified, two examples of the MDH.NG.1 variant and one of AK 2-1.

Hohao: The Uneasy Survival of an Art Form in the Papuan Gulf.

Hohao: The Uneasy Survival of an Art Form in the Papuan Gulf.

THE GEOLOGY OF WESTERN PAPUA

Two principal phases of sedimentary deposition are known in Western Papua, the Mesozoic and Tertiary. Knowledge of older sediments is limited to a small outcrop of Permian on the western end of the Kubor Range beneath which are granites and metamorphic rocks forming basement.The Mesozoic rocks outcrop in the central ranges of New Guinea and have been penetrated in 20 wells in the southern coastal area. Elucidation of the detailed Mesozoic structure and stratigraphy is incomplete but the outline of the history of sedimentation is emerging and appears to be similar in broad structural pattern to that of the overlying Tertiary sequence.Folding emergence and erosion occurred at the end of the Mesozoic in response to epeirogenic uplift of the northeastern margin of the Australian continent; with the subsequent Tertiary transgression being represented for the most part by Eocene and Oligocene limestones of limited thickness. On the basis of facies characteristics and sediment thickness it appears that during the Miocene western Papua was the site of an arcuate orthogeosynclinal complex. In the sector north of tilte Papuan Gulf the subdivision into a eugeosynclinal and miogeosynclinal trough is clearly represented by the development, in Kereruan times, of the Aure Trough and the Omati Basin. During the Lower and Middle Miocene huge thicknesses of greywackes and shales were deposited in the Aure Trough and westwards and southwestwards of the trough a limestone succession consisting mainly of basinal, fore -reef limestones and shoal reefs was developed over an area some 200 miles wide with its maximum thickness at Ornati. Definition of limestone facies within this huge limestone area is still incomplete. The Upper Miocene was marked by widespread development of argillaceous and arenaceous facies with only minor development of limestone. Movements during the Upper Miocene led to restriction of the Pliocene basin of sedimentation and the formation of shallow water arenaceous rocks with lesser mudstones and coals. The final major phase of folding and uplift probably began in late Pliocene times and has continued to the present day, accompanied by vulcanism and vigorous erosion.

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:The Heritage of the “Bounty.” By Harry L. ShapiroPapuan Wonderland. By J. G. HidesThe Science of Social Development. By F. A. BrookeBull‐Roarers in the Papuan Gulf. By F. E. WilliamsBlack and White in East Africa. By R. C. ThurnwaldProfane Literature of Buin, Solomon Islands. R. C. Thurnwald“The Price of the White Man's Peace.” R. C. Thurnwald“Cape York Peninsula,” three articles by Ursula H. McConnel

61. Notes on Carved Gopi Boards from the Papuan Gulf Area

61. Notes on Carved Gopi Boards from the Papuan Gulf Area

60. Carved Gopi Boards from the Papuan Gulf Area

60. Carved Gopi Boards from the Papuan Gulf Area

Introductory Notes on the Toys and Games of Elema, Papuan Gulf.

Introductory Notes on the Toys and Games of Elema, Papuan Gulf.

2. Introductory Notes to a Study of the Totemism of the Elema Tribes, Papuan Gulf.

2. Introductory Notes to a Study of the Totemism of the Elema Tribes, Papuan Gulf.