IDNO

LS.116816.TC1

Description

On Catalogue Card: "B.N.G.
Central Distr: Hula.
46. Sinking a pile." [manuscript in ink]

On Catalogue Card for duplicate print P.2022.ACH1: "Raising pile, Hula." [Typed text circa 1935]

A group of seven local men under the arrangement of Albert Charles English demonstrating the raising of a pole in preparation for building a house. The pole is being raised on the foreshore of possibly Poerupu? at low tide. In the background are a number of pole houses. [JD 10/08/2022]

Place

Oceania Melanesia; Papua New Guinea; Central Division; Southeast Coast; Vula'a; Hula; ?Poerupu [British New Guinea]

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Albert Charles English

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Haddon, Alfred Cort [Cambridge University Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Straits, 1898 - 1899]

Date

11 June 1898

Collection Name

Teaching Slide Collection

Source

Format

Lantern Slide Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Related Archive: Haddon writes in his 1898 journal: "Saturday [11th]. Yesterday I asked English to arrange to have the process of pile driving exhibited so this morning several men showed us how it was done. One man scooped a hole in the reef at low water with his hands. The pile was then propped up by several men and steadied by guy ropes when it was vertical.
Two or three men steadied it while those who had hold of the rope gently swayed it backwards and forwards and by its own weight it gradually bored its way into the ground. When a pile is sunk actually in the sea they are said to erect a light staging on the top to which a couple of men cling. This extra weight makes the pile sink more readily. We saw Neolithic man making a canoe at Kerepunu and here at Hula we saw the pile-dwellers at work. In the background was a pile-village in the water." (p.116) [JD 11/03/2020]

Facebook: Image published on PNG, Photo History, Taim Bipo group on 26/07/2022 with the caption: "Have you ever wondered how the famous stilt/pile villages were built over the water in taim bipo? "Hula, British New Guinea. Sinking a pile" A.C. Haddon 1898. Haddon writes in his 1898 journal: "Yesterday I asked English to arrange to have the process of pile driving exhibited so this morning several men showed us how it was done. One man scooped a hole in the reef at low water with his hands. The pile was then propped up by several men and steadied by guy ropes when it was vertical. Two or three men steadied it while those who had hold of the rope gently swayed it backwards and forwards and by its own weight it gradually bored its way into the ground. When a pile is sunk actually in the sea they are said to erect a light staging on the top to which a couple of men cling." Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge.
The engineering and craftsmanship skills of traditional Papua New Guineans is quite amazing. From building long suspension bridges across fast-flowing rivers, constructing large buildings capable of housing a hundred people, building cargo-carrying ocean-going sailing craft and navigating them across thousands of miles, to designing and crafting exquisite costumes, jewellery and carvings - and all without the use of modern metal tools."
1343 Likes; [not sharable] 16 Comments, including:
"This English Haddon is referring to is our great great great grand father who was posted to build Kwikila colonial administration. Albert Charles English. Who knew motu like the palm of his hand. Married a local Kemaea woman and had two sons. Gilbert and Harry. Gilbert who is my paternal great.great grandfather .. (by Amanda English)."
"My guess,this would be Poerupu at low tide (by Pablo Rekena)." [JD 04/08/2022]