ADMIRALTY ISLANDS BY DR HANS NEVERMANN Translated by John Dennison Edited by John Dennison and Glenn R. Summerhayes University of Otago Working Papers in Anthropology · No. 1 Published by Department of Anthropology & Archaeology · University of Otago 2013 SERIES EDITORS: Glenn R. Summerhayes Richard Walter Les O’Neil Department of Anthropology & Archaeology University of Otago Dunedin New Zealand ISBN 978-0-9922626-0-0 ADMIRALTY ISLANDS BY DR HANS NEVERMANN Translated by John Dennison Edited by John Dennison and Glenn R. Summerhayes University of Otago Working Papers in Anthropology · No. 1 Published by Department of Anthropology & Archaeology · University of Otago 2013 HAMBURG SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE AND CONSULTATIVE ASSOCIATION OF GERMAN SCIENCE RESULTS OF THE EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH SEAS 1908 – 1910 EDITED BY DR G. THILENIUS PROFESSOR OF ETHNOLOGY DIRECTOR OF THE HAMBURG MUSEUM OF ETHNOLOGY II. ETHNOGRAPHY: A. MELANESIA VOLUME 3 DR HANS NEVERMANN ADMIRALTY ISLANDS HAMBURG FRIEDERICHSEN, DE GRUYTER & Co. Ltd 1934 ADMIRALTY ISLANDS BY DR HANS NEVERMANN BERLIN WITH 231 TEXT FIGURES, 2 COLOURED- AND 21 COLLOTYPE PLATES AND 1 MAP HAMBURG FRIEDERICHSEN, DE GRUYTER & Co. Ltd 1934 FOREWORD The Hamburg Südsee Expedition undertaken at the end of the first decade of the twentieth century recorded many aspects of Pacific life that are of great interest to the descendants of those peoples living today. Although the Südsee Expedition concentrated mainly on Micronesia, apart from the introductory volume to the series there were a few volumes dedicated to New Guinea. Of the Papua New Guinea volumes four are of note: i. The St Matthias Islands by Hans Nevermann published in 1933; ii. The Admiralty Islands also by Nevermann published in 1934; iii. The Sepik River by Otto Reche published in 1913, iv. New Britain by Otto Reche published in 1954. As these New Guinea volumes have never been published in English, and the German volumes that are available (both originals and facsimiles) are expensive, it is no wonder that few in New Guinea have even heard of their existence. In 2010 a translation of the St Matthias volume was undertaken by John Dennison and published as a monograph in the Otago University Studies in Prehistoric Anthropology series. Having an English translation readily available made a significant impact on the Emirau communities, allowing details of the past to be available to all. It is hoped that this translation of the Admiralty Islands will also make a significant impact on those from the modern province of Manus! Manusians are thirsty for knowledge of the past. During research trips to Manus over the last decade it has become obvious that there is a deep pride in this province’s history. Archaeological discoveries have demonstrated that people colonised the region over 20,000 years ago. The region played a pivotal role in the complex exchange network that sent obsidian from Lou Island to Borneo in the west and to Fiji in the east some 3000 years ago (Summerhayes 2010). Long- distance exchange networks persisted into the nineteenth century, with Manus tru- or Titan- speaking peoples sailing from islands off the south coast of Manus to the north coast of mainland New Guinea in order to exchange goods. Such records of the past, however, are sparse and much more research is needed. Manusian academics such as Dr Bernard Minol, a leading academic from the University of Papua New Guinea, and Mr Stephan Pokawin, the ex-Governor of Manus and now the Chancellor of the University of Papua New Guinea, have worked hard over the decades to bring their history to the people of Manus and Papua New Guinea. It is their dedication and enthusiasm that inspired in me a determination to get this monograph translated. There is a thirst for knowledge of Manus’ past! I remember the excitement of the late Father Paul Mohe when talking about Manus’ past and his invitation to spend time in Manus to conduct archaeological research. I also have vivid memories of the time spent in the Horno Islands and Rambutso with both Dr Minol and Mr Kisakiu Posman, a Manusian lawyer based in Moresby. In 2011 we visited old settlements and I listened to Posman’s stories of the past, in his account of the beginnings of Titan settlement on Rambutso. I was sure that Nevermann’s account of the Admiralty Islands could add something to this history. It was John Dennison who allowed us into this world of knowledge by allowing us to read the German’s accounts of these peoples. I am proud of John Dennison’s fine work and his persistence in getting this translation finished. I am proud that I have played a role in this and proud that again the University of Otago has helped in getting stories of the past back to the people of Manus. I dedicate this book to two great Manusians: Dr Bernard Minol and the late Father Paul Mohe. I met Dr Minol in the mid 1990s and his infectious enthusiasm in all things Manus has rubbed off on me. He is truly a great teacher. I first met the late Father Mohe in the late 1990s on the Anir Island group, New Ireland Province. I was excavating a 3300-year-old Lapita site, Kamgot, and Paul was the local priest. He joined me on the excavations and even conducted a few after I left. He was a true intellectual, always asking questions and again inspiring in me a desire to understand Manus’ past. In 2006 I was lucky enough to meet up with Paul in Manus, with Herman Mandui from the National Museum and Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith from Otago. We stayed with Paul and listened to his stories of the region’s history, and he even took us to a new obsidian source in northwest Manus. I am sure that he would have made a great archaeologist. We are at a loss with his tragic death at such an early age. Dr Bernard Minol, 2011 The late Father Paul Mohe, Lepong obsidian source, 2007 Glenn Summerhayes, University of Otago Translator’s Preface This detailed study of the Admiralty Islands continues a series, and follows: St Matthias Group, translation of Nevermann H. (1933): St. Matthias-Gruppe: Ergebnisse der Südsee-Expedition, II. A.2. (Ed. John Dennison, Glenn R. Summerhayes, Lisa Matisoo-Smith. University of Otago Studies in Prehistoric Anthropology, N° 22.) Seattle, Amazon. 230p. (2011) [978-1460976388] St Matthias Group, translation of Nevermann H. (1933: St. Matthias-Gruppe: Ergebnisse der Südsee-Expedition, II. A.2. (Ed. John Dennison, Glenn R. Summerhayes, Lisa Matisoo-Smith. University of Otago Studies in Prehistoric Anthropology, N° 22.) Dunedin, Department of Anthropology, University of Otago. 209 p. (2010) [ISSN 0110-3709] Thirty Years in the South Seas. Land and People, Customs and Traditions in the Bismarck Archipelago and on the German Solomon Islands, translation of Parkinson, R. (1907): Dreißig Jahre in der Südsee. Land und Leute, Sitten und Gebräuche im Bismarckarchipel und auf den deutschen Salomoninseln. Bathurst NSW, Crawford House Publishing (1999) xxxviii + 378 p. [ISBN 1-86333-167-0] Translation of this 399-page volume started in May 2011 and has continued, in my own time, up to this day. As I have written previously, at the end of a long day’s teaching gross anatomy, carrying out physical anthropological research, or conducting a skeletal forensic investigation, it is quite relaxing to translate the findings from research undertaken 115 years ago, published 79 years ago, and to make this available to modern scholars. Technology has advanced a long way since I completed the Parkinson translation thirteen years ago — the seven files of the current 425 MB typeset translation will be transmitted electronically, directly to the publisher, rather than via two 1.3 MB diskettes on that long-ago occasion. Once again, I owe so much to my wife, Ann, who proofread my draft for spelling and phrasing, and then very patiently discussed my draft with me, often far into the night. I am grateful to Professor Glenn Summerhayes, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Otago who, when an earlier avenue of publication became no longer viable, opened up another avenue, provided me with a bound photocopy of Admiralitäts-Inseln and will, again, see this work through to its final published form. We are a team, who have worked together to make this second volume by Hans Nevermann and his team available to you. I wish you well in your research. K.J. Dennison Dunedin, July 2013 Author’s Foreword The diaries of Messrs Father Fülleborn, F.E. Hellwig, Wilhelm Müller(–Wismar), and O. Reche, and the collections that they made during September and October 1908 in the Admiralty Islands, form the greater part of this work. In addition, the literature on the Admiralty Islands, the collections in the museums of Basel, Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Leipzig and Stuttgart, the notes of Professor Augustin Krämer, the handwritten Catalogue of the H. Schoede Collection in Berlin, and the manuscripts of Hans Klink and L. Lukowski were consulted also. I owe particular gratitude to Dr. A. Bühler in Basel, who offered me the wealth of material that he had collected in the Admiralty Islands in 1931–1932 and, over and above this, gave me advice and information. I am, likewise, grateful to Professor Krämer for the selfless offer of his 1907 notes on the voyage of the Planet, which provided me with valuable material. For enabling my work in Basel I am very grateful to Professor Thilenius and Dr Paravicini. I am grateful to Professor Thilenius for providing a translation of N. Miklucho-Maclay’s work; Professor Hambruch for providing Klink’s records; Mr A.