Dani Je Exchange Stone Bride Price 300 Yrs Papua Guinea

There are several names for display-exchange stones. Some of the different names are Je, Jao, Sie & Siengga.

We ship internationally, we group ship multiple purchases to save you money, if you have any questions, email cheetahdmr@aol.com

All our handcrafted or rare collector items come with pages and pages of research, about provenance, with history of the tribes and photos as well, depending on item and whenever possible.  The Dani are scattered in the Baliem valley and other remote locations and many are still living in the stone age.

Archaeologists find stone artifacts on ancient sites all over the world. Most of them were used to process food, carve wood, make cloths or weapons. These artifacts are easy to identify. But some have no obvious use and may even seem mysterious. They are the ones we call enigmatic, problematic as they are ceremonial objects. The best way anthropologists have learned the most about ceremonial objects are from people still using them. New Guinea is a good example of such a place where the origins and meanings of stone artifacts can still be found and studied, such as in the Dani tribal culture.

Within recent years, during the 20th century, the Dani were living still very much the same way a Stone Age Neolithic cultures would have been thousands of years ago.

The Dani culture in Irian Jaya has been studied by anthropologists for many years. A unique phenomenon in this area is the use of display-exchange stones. Hampton reports in his book "Cultures of Stone" that display-exchange stones could be used as profane stones or selected by individuals to be made into sacred stones. The profane use means that these stones were used in public ceremonies such as funerals and weddings and given away to deserving people. For example, someone who provided pigs for a funeral would probably receive one or more exchange stones. On the other hand, sacred stones are selected by individuals. They are cared for by keeping them in special storage areas (ganekhe cabinet) out of sight of the public. They are maintained by three or more men in the sacred house (ganekhe house). These men perform rituals that empower the stones to maintain a connection with and harness the power of the unseen supernatural world of ghosts and spirits.

Display-exchange stones are laid out in rows during funerals. They are brought in separate funeral bundles that contain strapless ceremonial nets, cowry shell bands and usually anywhere from three to seven display-exchange stones. Each bundle is laid out very carefully with either grass or banana leaves on the bottom. Then carefully folded nets are laid down with the exchange stones laid on top. On top of the exchange stones are placed the cowry shell bands.

It has been recorded that in some funerals that involved a "big man," as many as 400 display-exchange stones were laid out. The number of funeral bundles would depend on the importance of the individual that had died. A funeral may have as few as one or none to more than 400 stones.

Display-exchange stones are described by the people using them with human anatomical terminology. The narrow end is called the head or skull (uguloak) and the wider end is called the anus (alokhe). If the stone is curved, rather than perfectly flat, the concave surface is called the face or cheekbone and the convex side is called the back (opolikhe). But even though the people using them refer to the stones with anatomical terms they don't see them as representing human beings or even as male or female entities. This issue is complicated though, because when the stones are laid out in a row with other stones in the funeral bundle, the group together can be seen as representing a human figure. Also, if a display-exchange stone is converted into a sacred stone it can be empowered with the ability to become a container for a human spirit.

On the island of New Guinea, much of the weaponry, food processing tools and ceremonial objects were made of wood. These were in the form of such things as bows and arrows, clubs, spears, spear throwers, fire starters, masks, food hooks, statues, etc. The most durable and long lasting objects were made of stone. The majority of these artifacts include adzes, axes, chisels, knives, portable grinding slabs, hand-held grinding stones, hammer-stones and display- exchange stones which when found, are very old.

Such symbolic stones are sometimes decorated with a wide variety of items such as pieces of fur, feathers, boar tusks, pig tails, wedding skirts or drop skirts (sali). "Skirts" are a female motif but according to the Dani people, there are no male or female stones, just stones. Stone can be green, dark green, black or grey. Surfaces are well smoothed on both sides and the edges. The uses of fiber string, stems of grass, a few leaves, and a certain root were essential to maintain the continuum of supernatural power from unknown places in the domain of the unseen into those durable stone objects that had been selected to be made sacred.

The Dani explain most of their ritual customs as a need to placate the restless ghosts of their own recent dead. These ghosts are potentially dangerous and cause misfortune, illness, and death, thus, attempts are made, at all times, to keep them appeased:

Traditionally the knives & daggers made of stone were used for ritual ceremonies or payments in bride price. They have been widely replaced by metal knives today. However, we sometimes find them in remote regions where the only weapons still used are made of bone or stone & they still carry magical value today.

Dani men go naked except for their kotekas or horims (penis gourds).  The Dani inhabit the Baliem valley around Wamena. The culture has changed little in hundreds or even thousands of years. Entering their territories involves a hard journey into a deep reality of “world stood still” and into a unique & engrossing culture. There, inevitable pig-feast are still rites of passage for people with such different ways wearing such different gear that they leave you spell-bound.

Our prices are very low as we sell mostly wholesale and we go straight to the source to find these treasures, so you are getting the advantage of that saving as well as the advantage of the wholesale price without having to purchase multiples for a little while longer while we are making room.

To see pictures of our collection, go to this link below and scroll down till you get to the photos, there are a few pages of pictures & text for educational purposes that we were asked to place on this site and we add more weekly whenever we find time. You will find there photos of what we collect and sell regularly and the interesting stories behind these items we search for in remote areas of the world  http://tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=14409&forum=5 and if you want to see colorful artwork to get ideas, and ways to transform houses with no flair into Carribean hideways, check this link again on the same site for fun! http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=16503&forum=6&4