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A highly species-rich jaw-bone artefact from New Guinea

A highly species-rich jaw-bone artefact from New Guinea An unusual jaw-bone artefact from the north-western lowlands, West Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, is described. It comprises 11 clusters of jawbones as well as a pendant of shell and a ring of bone. The clusters are separated by crab legs, and the entire assemblage is threaded on string. Ten of the clusters have four marsupial dentaries each, and one has three. One cluster also hosts a snake mandible, and another the mandible of an unidentified reptile. The marsupial species identified are Echymipera rufescens, Echymipera clara, Phalangista naudicaudatus, Pseudochirulus canescens and Pseudochirulus canescens. A model based on the Second (or Area) Moment of Inertia suggests that the ring of bone might be from a human tibia or fibula. While the artefact was accessioned as a necklace, it might in fact be a waist-band. With so many jaws of different species, the artefact differs markedly from other readily identifiable necklaces and girdles. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Springer Journals

A highly species-rich jaw-bone artefact from New Guinea

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References (44)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
ISSN
1866-9557
eISSN
1866-9565
DOI
10.1007/s12520-021-01354-9
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

An unusual jaw-bone artefact from the north-western lowlands, West Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, is described. It comprises 11 clusters of jawbones as well as a pendant of shell and a ring of bone. The clusters are separated by crab legs, and the entire assemblage is threaded on string. Ten of the clusters have four marsupial dentaries each, and one has three. One cluster also hosts a snake mandible, and another the mandible of an unidentified reptile. The marsupial species identified are Echymipera rufescens, Echymipera clara, Phalangista naudicaudatus, Pseudochirulus canescens and Pseudochirulus canescens. A model based on the Second (or Area) Moment of Inertia suggests that the ring of bone might be from a human tibia or fibula. While the artefact was accessioned as a necklace, it might in fact be a waist-band. With so many jaws of different species, the artefact differs markedly from other readily identifiable necklaces and girdles.

Journal

Archaeological and Anthropological SciencesSpringer Journals

Published: May 12, 2021

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