From Anthropology News, Dec. 2007:
GRANT RECIPIENTS
Cave Arts of the Upper Karawari in Papua New Guinea
Nancy Lynn Sullivan, independent researcher, received a Guggenheim fellowship for her project: The cave arts of the upper Karawari in Papua New Guinea. The cave arts project is a research endeavor and an exploration through the foothills of the Karawari River region of the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea, where the Inyai, Ewa and Yimas people lived until recently, and continue to hunt and gather. The mortuary carvings from these caves have long been part of the blue chip Oceania art market, and some efforts have been made to establish the caves as national cultural property. But at present, these are some of the most remote people of PNG, lacking access to services. Meanwhile, their northern neighbors from Enga province have begun to encroach on the traditional land, panning for gold and inviting Asian logging agents to set up camp. Sullivan's work involved recording the migtration and origin stories of the Yimas and their neighbors, with local PNG ethnographers, as well as the exploration and recording of the caves for possible national cultural property designation. Sullivan will be working with archaeologists, ethobotanists and biologists to create a comprehensive history of the region for publication.
The Grant Recipients column in Anthropology News is directed by Jona Pounds.
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