This is the first comprehensive compilation on the war shields of Melanesia. The volume illustrates more than one hundred types of shields from all culture areas of Melanesia that used such objects. Approximately eighty percent of the shields illustrated in the book have never appeared in print.
The editors describe why the use of fighting shields in the South Pacific was confined to Melanesia. The typology of war shields used in the book is based on an exhaustive survey of the literature, on the field experience of the authors, and on a survey of the collections of the major Australian museums.
About the Authors: Barry Craig is curator of Foreign Ethnology at the South Australian Museum. Harry Beran, recently retired from the University of Wollongong, has written numerous publications on the art of Papua New Guinea.
Contributors: Todd Barlin, Harry Beran, Chris Boylan, Eric Coote, Barry Craig, Tony Crawford, Bill Evans, Tim Flannery, Adrienne Kaeppler, Reg MacDonald, Elizabeth Pryce, Noelle Rathmell-Stiels.
The OAS has a limited number of copies of Shields of Melanesia available at AU$500.00 plus postage.
If you would like to purchase a copy please contact us.
