
EXHIBITION
Material Culture:
The Hampton Archive Artifacts

This exhibition complements the Fiber and Stone: People of the Baliem Valley. It highlights some of the fascinating artifacts from the collection of the Hampton Archive at the Tracing Patterns Foundation. These beautiful, well-crafted, and meaningful objects were made and used by the Dani and Yali people. The materials used reflect the available natural resources within their territories as well as their trade activities to acquire exotic precious items such as birds-of-paradise feathers and shells. Dr. O. W. Hampton collected these objects in the field during the 1980s and 1990s, the last gasp when the fiber and stone culture still played a big part in their daily and ritual lives.
Married Woman’s Skirt (Yokal)
This wedding skirt (yokal) made from several lengths of cord with orchid fibers, wound several hundred times, and bound in…
Yeineri-Style Ax
This is a large and rare Yeineri-style ax with a stone blade and a wood handle.
Bone Knife
These knives are made of highly polished animal bones. One has a hole drilled at the wide end, indicating that…
Stone for Wealth Display and Exhange (Owili)
This flat painted stone is a display-exchange sacred stone (owili). The stone is Yeineri-sourced gray schistose slate. It is painted…
Mouth Harps (Pikon)
These mouth harps (pikon) are made of bamboo. They are made in multiple different lengths to achieve various tones.
Langda-Sela Style Adze
This Langda-Sela adze has a straight handle, called sirikto, by the Una-speaking makers and users. The handle was partially wrapped…
Tagime Style Adze
This Tagime-style large adze has a handle that is curved towards the heel.
Stone for Wealth Display and Exhange (Pibit Pibit)
A pibit pibit stone is used at funerals and for other ceremonial purposes. The stone is Yeineri-sourced. Its color is…
Man’s Wrist and Arm Bands
These looped bands are continuously woven from thin strands of various plant fibers. The bands are either in solid monochrome…
Sacred Pouch
This pouch is a wrap made of moth cocoon cloth. It contains a resin block (hotali), two pieces of wood,…
Man’s Headdress
This headdress is constructed of a circular cord made of bark fibers and decorated with cassowary feathers.
Woman’s Head Net (Noken)
A noken is worn hanging from the head to the back and is considered part of a Dani woman’s dress…
Man’s Bag
This bag is woven in knotless netting from various shades of twisted bark fiber string and decorated with black pig’s…
Cowrie Shell Pouch
This small bag is tightly woven from twisted bark fiber string decorated with yellow orchid fibers. One side of the…
Man’s Headdress
This headdress is made of a strip of knotless netting band decorated with parrot (yanmaik) feathers and furs. It is…
Woman’s Short Grass Skirt
This type of skirt is worn both by children and adult females. It is constructed from multiple strands of flattened…
Woman’s Long Grass Skirt
This skirt is made of multiple strands of flattened reeds (kem grass), each about 60 cm long, tied to a…
Penis Sheath (Koteka)
Kotekas come in different shapes, from straight to curve, and in various widths and lengths. They are traditionally worn by…

















