Oceania Questions
What is the function of Tatania masks?
Some are displayed; most worn by dancers
What is mana?
Spiritual power
The Asmat see the human body as a tree, the feet are the roots, and the arms are the branches. Based on this info, what would the human head symbolize?
The Fruit
Which Polynesia group is primarily responsible for barkcloth making and decorating?
The Tongas
What is one possible explanation for the eradication of tattooing in Polynesia?
The influence of Christianity
Personal energy and spiritual power acquired through head-hunting was practiced by which oceanic society?
Asmat culture
Women in oceanic societies actively created which art forms?
Barkcloth, weaving, and pottery
What do the Asmat consider the female praying mantis to represent?
Art of beheading after compilation and eating him to be another form of head-hunting
Date range for earliest Australian sites?
18-19th cent
When did the colonization of Pacific islands reach its zenith?
19th century
What is associated with Dream Time?
Aboriginal art
What does Moai depict?
Ancestral chiefs
What describes the conceptualization of the meeting house itself?
Body of an ancestor
The Trobriand Islanders canoes are exquisite, demonstrating what types of skill?
Carving and knowledge of Kula symbolism
Storyboards are related to what?
Clan who built bai; historical events
What is the purpose of Malanggan rites?
Facilitating transition of the soul from the living world to the realm of the dead
Which Oceanic group didn't allow women entry into the ceremonial men's house?
Iatmul society
New Guinea is made up of what countries?
Inan Jaya and the eastern end of Papua New Guinea
What pottery making culture settled in western Polynesia in 1000 BCE?
Lapita culture
What was head-hunting for the Asmats?
Maintaining/restoring balance of spirit power
Who would dominate in Papua New Guinea?
Males
Where is Arhem Land?
N. Australia (Aboriginal art)
Where does tattoo originate?
Polynesia
Which were the last islands to be colonized?
Polynesia
What control mechanism was used to scare women away from the ocean in Belau?
Rooster images = Balek
What do figure carvings on a Maori meetinghouse represent?
Rooster images=rising sun; human faces = blellek
What dynamic form is common in oceanic people?
Trobinard islanders
How was info transmitted from one generation to the next in Pacific Island societies?
Verbal; leaving hierarchial documentation
Aside from serving as instruments of communication, what other function did the Iatmul slit-gongs have?
Voices of ancestral spirits
Abelam culture of Papua New Guinea revolves around what common veggie?
Yams
