Fragments of spondylus shells, mwali in the Kula ring.
Donor:
Bronislaw Malinowski and University Appropriation
Collection place:
Massim region, Papua Region, Papua New Guinea
Culture or time period:
Massim
Collector:
Bronislaw Malinowski and Bruce D. Lawes
Collection date:
1914-1920
Materials:
Seashell
Taxon:
Spondylus sinensis
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Shell samples
Function:
8.3 For Manufacturing
Accession date:
1965
Context of use:
These are fragments of spondylus shells from the Massim region Papua New Guinea, the easternmost tip of the mainland and the various islands eastward that made up the Kula ring made famous by Malinowski and further discussed by Mauss. Necklaces and pendants, soulava like 11-40097, traveled clockwise while armshells, mwali, traveled counter-clockwise. Travelling from island to island was often dangerous and made outsiders question the decision-making of going long distances to give gifts, but Malinowski’s findings of course made it clear that this gift-giving was part of a larger political landscape.
Department:
Oceania
Comment:
cf. 11-40097 cf. Malinowski, Bronislaw. Argonauts of the western Pacific. Routledge, 2014.
Loans:
S1976-1977 #70: Department of Anthropology (UC Berkeley)/Karen Nero (April 13, 1977–April 14, 1977), S1985-1986 #47: Peabody Museum of Natural History (Yale Univ.) (April 1, 1986–July 31, 1986), S1985-1986 #48: Jagiellonian University, Poland (October 1, 1986–March 31, 1987), S1985-1986 #49: Warsaw Museum of Asia and the Pacific (1987–1987), and S1985-1986 #9: Arizona State Museum (September 20, 1985–February 7, 1986)