The Digging Stick


Book Description




Ten Thousand Years of Cultivation at Kuk Swamp in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea


Book Description

Kuk is a settlement at c. 1600 m altitude in the upper Wahgi Valley of the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, near Mount Hagen, the provincial capital. The site forms part of the highland spine that runs for more than 2500 km from the western head of the island of New Guinea to the end of its eastern tail. Until the early 1930s, when the region was first explored by European outsiders, it was thought to be a single, uninhabited mountain chain. Instead, it was found to be a complex area of valleys and basins inhabited by large populations of people and pigs, supported by the intensive cultivation of the tropical American sweet potato on the slopes above swampy valley bottoms. With the end of World War II, the area, with others, became a focus for the development of coffee and tea plantations, of which the establishment of Kuk Research Station was a result. Large-scale drainage of the swamps produced abundant evidence in the form of stone axes and preserved wooden digging sticks and spades for their past use in cultivation. Investigations in 1966 at a tea plantation in the upper Wahgi Valley by a small team from The Australian National University yielded a date of over 2000 years ago for a wooden stick collected from the bottom of a prehistoric ditch. The establishment of Kuk Research Station a few kilometres away shortly afterwards provided an ideal opportunity for a research project.







Dust & Grooves


Book Description

A photographic look into the world of vinyl record collectors—including Questlove—in the most intimate of environments—their record rooms. Compelling photographic essays from photographer Eilon Paz are paired with in-depth and insightful interviews to illustrate what motivates these collectors to keep digging for more records. The reader gets an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions, including Gilles Peterson and King Britt, as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts. Driven by his love for vinyl records, Paz takes us on a five-year journey unearthing the very soul of the vinyl community.




Primitive Living, Self-Sufficiency, and Survival Skills


Book Description

In Primitive Living, Self-Sufficiency, and Survival Skills, author Thomas J. Elpel shows how to discover nature by using it with the same techniques employed by the first people to wander the earth. Illustrated with over 350 photographs, he thoroughly describes every aspect of how to: ·Stay warm and comfortable even without a blanket ·Start a fire using friction ·Make bows and bone arrowheads ·Butcher a deer, tan the hide, and make soft buckskin clothing ·Identify edible plants of the Rocky Mountains ·Cook in the wild without a pan ·Make birch bark canisters, willow baskets, and primitive pottery ·Create and use simple stone knives Primitive Living, Self-Sufficiency, and Survival Skills includes dozens of skills and techniques that anyone can learn to meet the needs of clothing, shelter, fire, and water. It is a must read for any serious outdoorsperson.




One Mole Digging a Hole


Book Description

All the animals are busy lending a hand in the garden in this lively numbers book! The parrots are pulling up carrots, the foxes are filling boxes and a swarm of bees are pruning the trees with their miniature shears. Even the smallest toddler will enjoy the wonderfully silly animal antics in this book, so join in and count along - gardening has never been so much fun!Trademark Julia Donaldson rhymes and rhythms are perfect to read aloud, and Nick Sharratt's mischievous and funny illustrations make the bright and playful One Mole Digging a Hole a sure winner. Just right for toddlers!Look out for: Hippo Has a Hat, Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose, Animal Music, Toddle Waddle and Goat Goes to Playgroup.




Mothers and Daughters of Invention


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Stanley traces women's inventions in five vital areas of technology worldwide--agriculture, medicine, reproduction, machines, and computers.




Participating in Nature


Book Description

Participating in Nature teaches you how to stay warm and comfortable without a sleeping bag, how to start a fire by friction, and how to build a reliable shelter from natural materials. Includes the self-reliance skills of fishing by hand, cooking edible plants, felting with wool, and making stone knives, wooden containers, willow baskets, and cordage.




Publication


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Anyan's Story


Book Description

Anyan was born in the mid-1920s into the pre-metal culture of the Tairora of what is now called Papua New Guinea. Her early life was rooted in the traditions of her remote village, where she worked the land and took part in the rituals connected with raising food, but she lived at the time of first contact between her people and those from "outside" and she saw the traditional ways begin to change. At her marriage she moved to the government station at Kainantu, where she was exposed to more Western influences, even as she tried to hold on to her past and her ties to her village. Before she died in the mid-1970s, this woman of indomitable spirit rode in an airplane and voted in a Western-style election. When Virginia Watson began her anthropological fieldwork in the eastern highlands of New Guinea in 1954, she needed an interpreter for the unwritten language of the Tairora. Fortune sent her Anyan. In their work together as Watson researched the role of Tairora women, Anyan gradually painted a picture of her society using events from her own life. Over many years of collaboration and deepening friendship a remarkable life history was told, one that bridged the periods before and after contact with Western culture. When Watson suggested the book to Anyan, "she was elated. She was anxious that everyone know about Tairora. Her pride in her upbringing, in her culture, in her beautiful corner of the world, was apparent." Individuals experience the shock of cultural transplantation in many ways. As Watson writes, "some of those forced to make the move from one culture to another were consumed by it, and some were consigned to straddling the dark void that the cultural disparities created. Others, like Anyan, were able to maintain equilibrium in both cultures." Anyan's Story will be of interest to anthropologists and other social scientists. It is a valuable study of gender roles, women's experience in cross-cultural societies, and culture shock.