Abstract
The Gulf of Papua, Papua New Guinea, is a rapidly changing geomorphic and cultural landscape in which the ancestral past is constantly being (re)interpreted and negotiated. This paper examines the importance of subsurface archaeological and geomorphological features for the various communities of Orokolo Bay in the Gulf of Papua as they maintain and re-construct cosmological and migration narratives. The everyday practices of digging and clearing for agriculture and house construction at antecedent village locations bring Orokolo Bay locals into regular engagement with buried pottery sherds (deposited during the ancestral hiri trade) and thin strata of ‘black sand’ (iron sand). Local interpretations and imaginings of the subsurface enable spatio-temporal interpretations of the ancestors' actions and the structure of ancestral settlements. These interpretations point to the profound entanglement of orality and material culture and suggest new directions in the comparative study of alternative archaeologies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | Journal of Social Archaeology |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 2019 |
Keywords
- hiri
- Indigenous archaeology
- memory work
- oral tradition
- Pacific
- Papua New Guinea
- social memory
Cite this
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Excavating and interpreting ancestral action : Stories from the subsurface of Orokolo Bay, Papua New Guinea. / Urwin, Chris.
In: Journal of Social Archaeology, 2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Excavating and interpreting ancestral action
T2 - Stories from the subsurface of Orokolo Bay, Papua New Guinea
AU - Urwin, Chris
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - The Gulf of Papua, Papua New Guinea, is a rapidly changing geomorphic and cultural landscape in which the ancestral past is constantly being (re)interpreted and negotiated. This paper examines the importance of subsurface archaeological and geomorphological features for the various communities of Orokolo Bay in the Gulf of Papua as they maintain and re-construct cosmological and migration narratives. The everyday practices of digging and clearing for agriculture and house construction at antecedent village locations bring Orokolo Bay locals into regular engagement with buried pottery sherds (deposited during the ancestral hiri trade) and thin strata of ‘black sand’ (iron sand). Local interpretations and imaginings of the subsurface enable spatio-temporal interpretations of the ancestors' actions and the structure of ancestral settlements. These interpretations point to the profound entanglement of orality and material culture and suggest new directions in the comparative study of alternative archaeologies.
AB - The Gulf of Papua, Papua New Guinea, is a rapidly changing geomorphic and cultural landscape in which the ancestral past is constantly being (re)interpreted and negotiated. This paper examines the importance of subsurface archaeological and geomorphological features for the various communities of Orokolo Bay in the Gulf of Papua as they maintain and re-construct cosmological and migration narratives. The everyday practices of digging and clearing for agriculture and house construction at antecedent village locations bring Orokolo Bay locals into regular engagement with buried pottery sherds (deposited during the ancestral hiri trade) and thin strata of ‘black sand’ (iron sand). Local interpretations and imaginings of the subsurface enable spatio-temporal interpretations of the ancestors' actions and the structure of ancestral settlements. These interpretations point to the profound entanglement of orality and material culture and suggest new directions in the comparative study of alternative archaeologies.
KW - hiri
KW - Indigenous archaeology
KW - memory work
KW - oral tradition
KW - Pacific
KW - Papua New Guinea
KW - social memory
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065538389&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1469605319845441
DO - 10.1177/1469605319845441
M3 - Article
JO - Journal of Social Archaeology
JF - Journal of Social Archaeology
SN - 1469-6053
ER -