Papuan Axe Treat (not sure which forum to put this in)

[trekkingnut]

"o and btw, they just called the head, blue stone, i have no idea what type of stone it is made out of at all."

Trekkingnut,

Beautiful pic's thank's for showing!

I've got a 30 minute documentary on DVD about the quarrying and shaping of stone axes by the Yeleme people of New Guinea. They use fire to collect slabs of a blueish stone (I forgot he exact name, glau.... or something like that) from a rock wall and then make these axes by pecking, grinding and polishing them by hand. When finished these axes are traded far and wide with axes turning up over 150 miles from their origin, so your axe is probably made by them.

The DVD is made by a French archeologist couple by the name of Petrequin but you can switch to an English voice over in the DVD-menu. Besides the fire thong there's also another firestarting method (using a stone to strike sparks out of a special kind of bamboo) briefly shown in the documentary. If you PM me your address I'll send you a copy of the disc.

Cheers,

Tom

they are made all over the place from what i can tell, i was in western papua and a very very long way from papua new guinea. same island but two different countries. i saw them being made and repaired when i managed to snap one by being a bit over zealous.

is it in french or english?

 

[trekkingnut]

p.s arrow head pics are up

 

[Galemys]

Trekkingnut,

The documentary is shot on the western side of the island New Guinea, not in Papua NG. The makers are from the Wano tribe, from the "massif de Yeleme", in the central highlands, Irian Yaya, Indonesia. The voice over of the DVD can be set to English so you don't have to listen to the French version.

Where did you purchase the axe exactly?
Oh and are the arrowheads and feathered headband also from the same place?

Cheers,

Tom

 

[trekkingnut]

they are all from different villages and i didnt purchase any of them. all gifts. the axe was from central papua barat. fly to wamena, then fly to somewhere slightly further north whos name escapes me then a long walk from there. but they were def made local.

 

[robin wood]

whoops meant to pm

 

[trekkingnut]

whoops meant to pm

now awaiting mysterious pm... haha

 

[robin wood]

now awaiting mysterious pm... haha

PM was to Tom. I have really enjoyed seeing these stone age tools. I am fascinated by the moment when a new technology is introduced and by the fact that it rarely completely replaces older technology immediately as we were taught at school. If you visit a high street bank today you will see stone carved lettering on the building, inside there will be handwriting, typing, printing and email all side by side in the 21st century. Sometimes there are good reasons for "outdated" technologies to continue in use.

 

[trekkingnut]

PM was to Tom. I have really enjoyed seeing these stone age tools. I am fascinated by the moment when a new technology is introduced and by the fact that it rarely completely replaces older technology immediately as we were taught at school. If you visit a high street bank today you will see stone carved lettering on the building, inside there will be handwriting, typing, printing and email all side by side in the 21st century. Sometimes there are good reasons for "outdated" technologies to continue in use.

its interesting working where i do to actually see the technology that they have chosen to use and the technology that they have decided is inferior to what they already have....

some of the things actually surprised me and, for instance took out a piece of western technology and they laughed and made something in ten seconds, for free, that did the same job! its happened several times!

the real deal for me was how we damage something slightly and throw it away and they would just carry on using it or fix it! even if they had never seen one before!

 

[Galemys]

Robin and Trekkingnut,

I delivered your DVD-copies to the post office this afternoon, they should be at your doorstep within a week or so (by regular mail).

Cheers,

Tom

 

[trekkingnut]

Robin and Trekkingnut,

I delivered your DVD-copies to the post office this afternoon, they should be at your doorstep within a week or so (by regular mail).

Cheers,

Tom

thank you soooo much! i really wish there was a way to get the axe to you so you could see it in person!

 

[Tengu]

Robins right, technologies are not superseded right away

there is a flint arrowhead in Purton museum, from Ringsbury camp, an Iron age hill fort

 

[trekkingnut]

Robins right, technologies are not superseded right away

there is a flint arrowhead in Purton museum, from Ringsbury camp, an Iron age hill fort

didnt realise you were in wiltshire! theres actually a hill fort in blunsdon as well though its rarely discussed.

 

[Tengu]

There is, isnt there, though I will admit I have never been. (seen most of the areas other antiquities though)

 

[trekkingnut]

There is, isnt there, though I will admit I have never been. (seen most of the areas other antiquities though)

its neither very exciting nor very big.... can see it from my window... its a very small hill fort in comparison to others along the vale but fits in with the row down this side. cracking views over fairford and ciren etc.

 

[Harry The Camper]

Ever tried using this?

 

[trekkingnut]

Ever tried using this?

ive used one in papua... i wouldnt use this one.... too special for me!

 

[darrenleroy]

I would have liked to discover how they used a fire in the tree house without burning through the matting. Any ideas?

 

[robin wood]

I would have liked to discover how they used a fire in the tree house without burning through the matting. Any ideas?

I have no knowledge of this culture but fires on wooden boats eg the Mary Rose presented the same problems and are easily over come with clay (or brick on the Mary Rose) In wooden houses in Japan and Portugal a raised hearth filled with soil and topped with clay is used for the fire.

 

[trekkingnut]

I have no knowledge of this culture but fires on wooden boats eg the Mary Rose presented the same problems and are easily over come with clay (or brick on the Mary Rose) In wooden houses in Japan and Portugal a raised hearth filled with soil and topped with clay is used for the fire.

dont think they did that in the footage that was shown, but even a pile of fresh banana leaves doesnt burn very easily. not like they have a roaring fire going.... just something easy to manage...