Bird Figure

Item number 3277/20 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

Item Records

This page shows all the information we have about this item. Both the institution that physically holds this item, and RRN members have contributed the knowledge on this page. You’re looking at the item record provided by the holding institution. If you scroll further down the page, you’ll see the information from RRN members, and can share your own knowledge too.

The RRN processes the information it receives from each institution to make it more readable and easier to search. If you’re doing in-depth research on this item, be sure to take a look at the Data Source tab to see the information exactly as it was provided by the institution.

These records are easy to share because each has a unique web address. You can copy and paste the location from your browser’s address bar into an email, word document, or chat message to share this item with others.

Data
Data Source

This information was automatically generated from data provided by MOA: University of British Columbia. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Description

Standing stone bird figure. The bird has a heart-shaped chest, two triangular legs, knob-like tail feathers, pointed head with bulging eyes, and two oval-shaped wings to each side with carved crosshatching. The stone is rough, and mottled in appearance with flecks of reddish-browns.

Narrative

Purchased in May 1972, by Jack Lieber, from a village in Yaramanda, a settlement near the northern foothills of Mt. Hagen. The villager said it was a magic stone given to him by his father to place in the ground under the pighouse to ensure the fertility of animals. Lieber was in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea from August 1970 to June 1972, researching village communities in and around Goroka, where he was lecturing under the auspices of UNESCO at the Goroka Teachers College.