Coupaye, L; (2012) Des Images, des nœuds et des toiles. Techniques & Culture , 58 (1) pp. 142-159. 10.4000/tc.6424.

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Abstract

The notion of irreplaceable objects can be applied both to object considered as such by the societies studied by anthropologists, as well as by the latter who want to describe practices, insitutions or representations. These three phenomena are never totally intangible and are always in relations with objects or artefacts. The sacred stones of the Abelam of Papua new Guinea are objects which, though invisible and secret, are essential for the cultivation and exhibition of decorated yams (Coupaye 2010). These stones are also essential for our understanding of a phenomenon, often considered only as a male phallic cult, but which in fact concerns more widely the temporal and territorial anchoring of human groups, in relation with many vegetal and animal species, as well as with spiritual beings. The practices surrounding these sacred stones allow us to sophisticate our interpretations by including within them social relations between clans, villages, myths, rituals, natural species and surnatural entities.

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