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

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 <i>Echymipera rufescens, Echymipera clara, Phalangista naudicaudatus, Pseudochirulus canescens </i> and <i>Pseudochirulus canescens</i>. 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.