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The article discusses the breeding behaviour and distribution of the bird species Manus Friarbird Philemon albitorques and other species in the small islands of Admiralties Group in Papua New Guinea. The factors that attracted the Manus Friarbird to the islands and their nest building are investigated. Information on the historical status of the species is also offered.

A geochemical study using pXRF and LA-ICP- MS to characterise artefacts from sites dating to the initial phase of colonisation on Aore and Malo islands, Vanuatu, has confirmed the dominance of obsidian from the distant Kutau/ Bao source in West New Britain, with a smaller group from local outcrops in the Banks Islands, Vanuatu. Three flakes from the Umleang/ Umrei source in the Admiralty Islands have also been identified in later levels. Distance fall-off analysis of metric and technological attributes suggests that during the early phase of human colonisation of Remote Oceania, obsidian circulated within a series of separate, loosely connected social spheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phenomenon commonly encountered in Oceanic languages consists of verb-like forms that indicate the direction of motion verbs, which go by different names depending on the analysis. This article discusses the directional paradigm of Paluai (Eastern Admiralties), spoken on Baluan Island (Manus Province, Papua New Guinea). This language has an exceptionally large paradigm of ten directionals, which are obligatorily used in serial verb constructions (SVCs) to express the direction of the action represented by the main verb. The Paluai paradigm is interesting because it utilizes an absolute frame of reference in which many of the terms are additionally specified for deixis. Which directional is used in what context depends on two variables: first, where the motion is directed with regard to a land-sea axis (absolute or cardinal direction); and second, whether the motion is directed away from or toward a deictic center, or in neither direction. Although the directionals are used predominantly in SVCs, they are all attested as main verbs, heading a predicate. They have, however, undergone some degree of grammaticalization; this appears to be especially the case with la 'motion away from the deictic center'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report here on the chemical analysis by portable x-ray fluorescence (PXRF) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of 438 obsidian flakes recovered from Sepik coastal sites spanning the last two millennia of prehistory. Our results demonstrate the continuous involvement of local people in exchange networks moving obsidian from both the Admiralty Islands and West New Britain to this coast, possibly as far back as the mid-Holocene. Suspected early assemblages contain significantly higher frequencies of obsidian from the more distant sources on New Britain. Assemblages dated to after - 2000 calBP contain obsidian predominately from the nearer Admiralty sources. Site by site differences in the relative frequencies of obsidian from different Admiralty sub-sources suggest that prehistoric patterns of interaction on the coast were complex, and cannot be accounted for by simple patterns of 'down the line' connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the prominence of trade particularly among the Manus of the Admiralties. Comparison of trading societies vis-a-vis agricultural societies; Items imported and exported; Retrade of objects from foreign sources.

Treatment of illness in the Admiralty Islands was related to the assignment of illness to one of four main categories: (1) interpersonal, soul damage by extra-human agents, (2) interpersonal, cursing within group, (3) interpersonal, sorcery outside of group, and (4) impersonal, organic damage by an immanent impersonal agent. The first two causal assignments persist as explanations for illness with implications for traditional cures in every instance. Three and four vary inversely with one another in priority of resort to native or European curative practices. This paper offers an analysis of factors in the allocation of cases between European (acculturative) and native (counter-acculturative) curative agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]