This project will document and analyze the social, economic and ritual variation in communities on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. The researchers will photograph, describe, map and prepare an integrated database for a large body of previously unanalyzed material in the A. B. Lewis collection at the Field Museum of Natural History. Much of the collection comprises objects made in one community but collected in another, and the researchers will create a regional analysis of material culture for this region of the world at the time of collection, in the early 20th century, which they will test with a field survey of current material culture in this area. This project is important because the relation of local communities to a regional culture is a fundamental problem in understanding society and culture. A project which can increase our understanding of this issue, especially with the time depth of this research, will help us understand how these local communities will interact in the future.
