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Prehistoric stone artefacts from Enga and the implication of links between the highlands, lowlands and islands for early agriculture in Papua New Guinea

Pamela Swadling, Polly Wiessner et Akii Tumu
p. 271-292

Résumé

Two of the unanswered questions of Papua New Guinea prehistory are: (1) whether agriculture was present in the mid-Holocene not only in the highlands but also in the lowlands and Bismarck Archipelago and (2) whether the presence of agriculture might have been influenced by interaction between these regions. This paper addresses these questions through an analysis of prehistoric stone mortars, pestles and figures, which hold information on both style and function.

Cet article traite deux des questions sans réponse de la préhistoire de la Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée : (1) l'agriculture était-elle présente dans le mi-Holocène non seulement dans les hautes terres mais également dans les basses terres et l'archipel Bismarck et (2) la présence de l'agriculture pourrait-elle avoir été influencée par l’existence de relations entre ces deux régions. Cet article aborde ces questions en analysant des mortiers, des pilons et des figures en pierre préhistoriques, qui livrent des informations sur leur style et leur fonction.

Notes de l'auteur

Acknowledgements
Without the assistance of villagers, travellers, museum staff, researchers from many disciplines, government officers and collectors, a study of this nature is not possible.
We also wish to acknowledge the foundation work on these artifacts by the late Graeme Pretty and the late Douglas Newton. Thanks are due to the following individuals who assisted in various ways: Chris Ballard, Paul Brugman, Susan Bulmer, John Burton, Barry Craig, Helen Dennett, Brian Egloff, Jack Golson, Crispen Howarth, Ottmar Maier, Marion Melk-Koch, Robin Hide, Jim Specht, and Robin Torrence. Any errors are our responsibility.

Artifacts stolen from the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery in 2003
The following artifacts mentioned and illustrated in this paper were stolen from the png National Museum and Art Gallery on 19 May 2003. If anyone comes across them could they please assist in arranging their return.
1. Bird figure, height 21.5 cm from Nete, east of Hewa, north of lower Lagaip (figure 5).
2. Bird pestle, height 21 cm from Avalgin, inland of Kandrian, West New Britain (figure 9).
3. Bird pestle head, height 9.5 cm, from Pausa, Wapenamanda area (figure 9).
4. Marsupial/anthropomorphic figure, height 24 cm, from Kip, Lai valley, Mendi area (figure 6).

Note on provenance corrections
During this study some previously published artifact provenances were found to be incorrect. The first error arose due to wrongly assigning Pausa/Yaramanda to the Porgera area rather than locations near Wapenamanda. This was the case with two bird pestles (see Swadling and Hide, 2005: 304, figure 8). The second error is a publishing gremlin. According to the National Gallery of Australia catalogue, a pestle (Cat. No. 87.1556) comes from either the png mainland or New Britain, but is published in Meyer (1995: 311, plate 347) as coming from Ambum in Enga. The third error is the case of incorrect information being provided to a collector. A mortar illustrated in Friede (2005: 30, plate 4) does not come from the Eastern Highlands, but from Takopa in the Porgera area in Enga; as both the late Graeme Pretty and Wiessner obtained photos and information giving its provenance as Takopa.

Ce document sera publié en ligne en texte intégral en décembre 2011.

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Référence électronique

Pamela Swadling, Polly Wiessner et Akii Tumu, « Prehistoric stone artefacts from Enga and the implication of links between the highlands, lowlands and islands for early agriculture in Papua New Guinea », Le Journal de la Société des Océanistes, 126-127 | Année 2008, [En ligne], mis en ligne le 15 décembre 2011. URL : http://jso.revues.org/index2942.html. Consulté le 28 novembre 2009.

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