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Crafting Social Networks: the Production of Obsidian Stemmed Tools in the Willaumez Peninsula, Papua New Guinea

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Abstract

Widely held assumptions about static societies during the early-middle Holocene (c. 10,000–3300 BP) in the Willaumez Peninsula, Papua New Guinea are challenged by a hypothetical reconstruction of social negotiations that we propose were embedded within the manufacture of large obsidian stemmed tools that circulated as cultural valuables. Made by skilled knappers, these artefacts were manufactured in stages (quarrying, preform production, shaping, hafting, and re-hafting) often segregated in discrete and possibly restricted locations. The successful completion of a large obsidian stemmed tool may have required effective management to negotiate multiple social networks, thereby enhancing the status of those who directed the process. Social connections forged and re-inforced to support the production process may also have been enhanced by ritual practices. Through the social links created and strengthened by the process of its crafting and the subsequent ceremonies and exchanges in which it circulated, a stemmed tool contributed to a vibrant social life that persisted over several millennia.

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Notes

  1. Codes for archaeological sites which are assigned by the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery consist of three or four capital letters: e.g., FABN, FAP, and GGB. Occasionally, several codes have been given to discrete concentrations of material within a larger area such as Bitokara Mission or the Baki quarry on Garua Island.

  2. Our experimental knapping supports this inference based on the configuration of the flake scar platforms, shapes, and ripple patterns for percussion rather than pressure flaking. It is likely that a combination of hard and soft hammers was used, but our replication experiments have been limited to hard stone hammers (cf. Rath and Kononenko 2021; Ackerman personal communication). Further, more targeted experimentation, especially with the use of shell as percussors, is required to obtain absolute certainty about production methods. At this stage, the shapes and characteristics of the flake scars fit well with those produced in our experiments which used direct percussion.

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Acknowledgements

The research has benefitted from multiple grants from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Museum, and the University of Leicester combined with invaluable assistance from the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery, PNG National Research Institute, West New Britain Provincial Cultural Centre, New Britain Palm Oil, Ltd., Hargy Oil Palms Ltd., Mahonia Na Dari Research Station, Walindi Plantation, and Bitokara Mission. We are extremely grateful to the communities in West New Britain where we have worked for their permission to conduct research, their assistance with the fieldwork, sharing their knowledge, and especially for their warm hospitality and support. We thank Andrew Moutu, Alu Guise, Herman Mandui, and Julius Violaris (National Museum of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby); Penny Ikinger and Ron Vanderwal (Museum Victoria, Melbourne); Jeremy Coote and Jeremy Uden (Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford); Ingrid Heerman (Linden Museum, Stuttgart); Alexandra Wessel and Flavia Abele (Museum der Kulturen, Basil); and Alexis von Poser and Marcus Schindlbeck (Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin) for assisting access to collections. We also thank the private collectors for lending objects and facilitating visits: Jon Ray, Riccard Reimann, Graham King (Hargy Oil Palms Ltd.), Lesley Martin, Arthur Palmer, and Col Young. Pip Rath, Peter White, and Kim Akerman have been especially important as sounding blocks and sources of inspiration. Over the years, Nick Araho, John Clark, Trudy Doelman, Richard Fullagar, and Jim Specht have also provided useful insights and criticisms that have improved our research. We recognize Angela Rosenstein’s technical drawing skills and regret that she will not see her artwork published. We also thank the referees for useful suggestions and for encouraging us to sharpen up our arguments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geosciences and Archaeology, Australian Museum Research Institute, 1 William St, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia

    Robin Torrence & Nina Kononenko

  2. Department of Archaeology, SOPHI, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2016, Australia

    Robin Torrence & Nina Kononenko

  3. ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia

    Robin Torrence

  4. School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE17RH, UK

    Paul Dickinson

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Torrence, R., Kononenko, N. & Dickinson, P. Crafting Social Networks: the Production of Obsidian Stemmed Tools in the Willaumez Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. J Archaeol Method Theory 29, 962–988 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-021-09545-3

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