“Gifting” As a Means of Cultural Transmission: The Archaeological Implications of Bow-and-Arrow Technology in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

This paper examines the learning processes related to bow-and-arrow technology in a hunter-gatherer community in Papua New Guinea in an attempt to help illuminate prehistoric learning behaviors. The data analyzed have been derived from Hitoshi Watanabe’s ethnographic research conducted in 1971, which left a corpus of remarkably rich information on the learning processes relating to the manufacture and use of bows and arrows. The present study revealed that the giving of bows and arrows played a vital role in the transmission of bow-and-arrow technology in the society under study. Emphasizing the significance of giving, this paper proposes a “gift-education model,” which can help create an explanatory framework for learning processes in prehistory. The model has its strengths in archaeology because I believe that “gifting” may have left material evidence that is testable through archaeological records. If the presence of gifts can be used as a proxy for investigating prehistoric learning, it can open a new dimension for research into prehistoric learning.