Headband of bark stitched with nassa shells, with a tuft of fur at each end and twisted bark ties. Worn as the base for a headdress. [EC 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/9/2005]

Collection type: Object
Description: Headband of bark stitched with nassa shells, with a tuft of fur at each end and twisted bark ties. Worn as the base for a headdress. [EC 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 21/9/2005]
Geographical reference: Papua New Guinea
Oceania > Melanesia > Papua New Guinea; Madang Province north of Madang [Highlands type]
Person: Field collector Michael Carey; PRM source Michael Carey
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1972
Date collected: 1970 - 1972
Acquisition information: Donated: 18/07/1989
Materials and processes: Material Bark Wood Plant, Material Animal Fur Skin, Material Shell, Material Plant Fibre, Process Stitched
Dimensions: Length: max 530 mm, Width: max 80 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1989.28.11
Research and responses: Sillitoe (RDF) states that these headbands are mainly worn by men, though collector's photo shows a woman (the original owner) wearing this item.
For the collector's own description of this type of nassa shell forehead band, including the materials used and how they are made, see pages 341 to 344 of Paul Sillitoe (1988), Made in Niugini: Technology in the Highlands of Papua new Guinea (London: British Museum Publications). [ZM 4/8/2016]

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