Anthropos: Anthropos, 50.1955

Anthropos, 50.1955

Bibliographische Daten

Zeitschrift

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschrift

Werks-URN (URL):: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714789

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-714789

Persistenter Identifier:: BV041701500

Titel:: Anthropos

Untertitel:: internationale Zeitschrift für Völker- u. Sprachenkunde

Weitere Titel:: Anthropos

Erscheinungsort:: Fribourg

Verlag:: Ed. St. Paul, Anthropos-Institut

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1906

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Wissensgebiet:: Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie > Allgemeines

Zeitschriftenband

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenband

Werks-URN (URL):: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-709676

URN:: urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-709676

Persistenter Identifier:: DE-11-001896205

Titel:: Anthropos, 50.1955

Erscheinungsjahr:: 1955

Signatur:: LA 1118-50

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Zeitschriftenheft

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenheft

Titel:: Bd. 50, H. 1./3., 1955

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Zeitschriftenartikel

Strukturtyp:: Zeitschriftenartikel

Titel:: The "Platform" Phenomenon along the Northern Coast of New Guinea (

Sonstige Person:: Meiser, Leo

Sammlung:: Zeitschriften und Zeitungen > Zeitschriften zur Ethnologie

Leo Meiser Anthropos oO. l!)55 From this material I come to ’ the following conclusions : 1. In the Kaean area the word “platform” signifies, first of all, a wooden structure of the same nature and significance as Seligman has shown to exist along the Papuan coast, though it is not as elaborate. It is a flat, tablelike affair of a particular shape, resting on posts driven into the ground ; it may be attached to a house or erected separately ; it may or may not have a roof over it ; one can sit upon it ; it is the meeting-place where the men gather for a chat, a meal, or to chew betel nut. In a word, it is the “town hall” of the place. These platforms are regarded as sacred. Here also dwell the ancestors and spirits of the group. 2. To each platform in every village there belongs a social group, composed of a number of men and their families, each group having its own economic, political and ritual organization. These units apparently have nothing to do with blood relationship but they are exogamous in a loose sort of way. Each such social group has a special name. 3. The various family dwellings display wooden structures that indicate to which platform the owner belongs. 4. As in most of the villages one of the three original platforms has become extinct, we now have a dual social system similar to that which Tranel has shown to exist among the Moando in the south, and M. Mead among the Arapesh 3 , the Kaeans’ northwestern neighbours. Why that platform became extinct I shall explain in the text. 2. Source of Information About five miles southeast of the mouth of the Ramu River (northern coast of Territory of New Guinea), directly on the seashore, lives the tribe of the Kaean. The oldest living member of the tribe and the source of my information is old Nagi. He is indeed old, for even the most venerable members of the tribe, and of neighboring tribes as well, confess that they never saw Nagi as a young man. He has always been as he is now, they say. On the other hand, Nagi declares that he knew all the others, including the oldest of his friends, as small children. Old as he may be, he does not show it. He still walks erect and briskly ; he still goes to see his friends many miles away ; he still has some good teeth left and still chews his betel nut. Nagi is rather tall and slim ; his face is a mass of wrinkles, especially when he laughs, and Nagi’s smile is almost proverbial. The only complaint he has is that his eyesight is failing him. Nagi is a real old-timer, living the ancient life untouched by civilization. He despises modern youth for using blankets and mosquito nets instead of the old warm sleeping bag and for eating all sorts of things that weaken their legs for dancing and roughen their throats for singing, such things as eggs laid by white men’s hens, meat from tins and other things which Nagi would 3 Marg. Mead, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History (New York) 40. 1947. Part 3. pp. 183-184.

Zugriffsbeschränkung

Nutzungslizenz

fullscreen: Anthropos, 50.1955

Zeitschrift

Zeitschriftenband

Zeitschriftenheft

Zeitschriftenartikel

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Downloads

Ganzer Datensatz

Diese Seite

Bildfragment

Formate und Verlinkungen

Formate

Links

Zitieren

Ganzer Datensatz

Diese Seite

Zitierempfehlung