Magical stone; slate or bedded argillite; flat, circular; bored hole in center; The disks are very rare objects, of which perhaps half a dozen were known to exist in Pasinki. (Three of these-- I think there were three-- I obtained.) Since they are so rare it surprised me that they were not treated in any manner comparable to that accorded to objects of shell, bone, and stone believed to be “ancient” and stored in “sacred nets” inside the men’s houses. The stone disks are either kept visibly inside the men’s house or hang, suspended by a vine, on the outside under the roof and close to the entrance. I did not obtain a specific name for the object. Upon questioning informants referred to the disks as “the thing with a hole.” Nobody was able to tell me either when they were acquired and from where or how they were made. Occasionally, a young person asserted that men living but three generations ago made them in the virginity of Pasinki. I tend to accept this statement as a belief in the omnipotence of the venerated (defunct) old men. When asked for the purpose of the disks outside of the men’s house, some informants either replied that they were “just there” or “old things;” others claimed that “they are to make the women and small children (including the uninitiated boys) know ‘that’s a sacred house’.”
Donor:
Klaus Koch and University Appropriation
Collection place:
Pasikni Village, Central Jalemo, West Papua Province
Culture or time period:
Indonesian cultures and Yali people
Object type:
ethnography
Function:
5.2 Magic: Objects Associated with Practices reflecting confidence in the ability to manipulate supernatural agencies