from pigs to pearlshells: the transformation of a New Guinea Highlands exchange economy

Abstract

Studies of exchange in Melanesia have usually emphasized the functional value of transactions for maintaining social relations. The material side of transactions — what items are exchanged, how they are produced, and what relations arise from their production — have held secondary interest for anthropologists. This paper analyzes two neighboring, interconnected exchange systems in the New Guinea Highlands: the Melpa moka, a system primarily of pearlshell exchange, and the Enga tee, in which pigs are the most valued exchange items. The entailments of exchanging pearlshells and pigs, the sociopolitical implications of each, and the historical circumstances affecting both systems are examined. [Enga, Melpa, New Guinea Highlands, ceremonial exchange, economic anthropology, rank and stratification]

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