Ceremonial House Post

A ceremonial house is built by clans that descend from the same ancestor. Posts carved with zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and geometric designs drawn from the clans’ oral traditions support its roof. Due to their large size, such posts are relatively rare in collections. Most often, as is the case here, only the upper part has been preserved. The carved face probably depicts an ancestral spirit, the noticeable tongue indicating its communicative power. As to the exact identity of such figures, however, ethnologists have been given differing information, depending upon whether they have spoken to Iatmul men or women. That underscores the possibility of a single object having a number of meanings, as well as the limits of ethnological studies.