On the Mitseum's top floor, expedition mammalogists Daniel Womo- 

 chel (left) and Anthony DeBlase itemize and pack some of the hun- 

 dreds of items included in the equipment for the Street mammal 

 survey of Turkey. The equipment filled more than 40 wooden crates. 



Mr. and Mrs. Street will be setting up expedition head- 

 quarters in Ankara the second week in May and will cable 

 for their young scientists to emplane when the Neptune 

 reaches port in Istanbul. 



Lists of the expedition needs run into hundreds of items 

 and a sampling of these gives an indication of the complex- 

 ities involved in planning the survey. The items include 

 two triple-beam balance scales, three animal predator calls, 

 two camouflage nets, two alarm clocks, one collapsed cook- 

 ing stove, one potato peeler, eight salad forks, two snake bite 

 kits, three inflatable splints for legs, four cans of Ojf insect 

 repellent, two cans of Raid, one 6 by 8-inch camp mirror, 

 24 harmonicas and 1,000 balloons. The last two groups of 

 items are destined for youngsters living in the villages near 

 which the expedition will camp. 



The scientists who accompanied the Streets on the two 

 previous mammal surveys to southwestern Asia have both 

 contributed manuscripts now being published by the Field 

 Museum Press. 



"A Study of the Mammals of Iran, Resulting from the 

 Street Expedition of 1962-63," by Douglas M. Lay, was 

 published in October, 1967, as part of the scientific series, 

 Fieldiana: ^oologji. Lay and Mr. and Mrs. Street collected 

 1,728 specimens of mammals from all parts of Iran and pro- 

 vided the most comprehensive scientific study ever published 

 on the mammals of Iran. Lay is now completing his doc- 

 torate research which grew out of discoveries he made dur- 

 ing the investigation of Iranian mammals. 



Jerry Hassinger left graduate studies at the University 

 of California to accompany the Streets on their 1965 mam- 

 mal survey in Afghanistan and his first 100-page work is 

 scheduled for publication in Fieldiana: ^oology this year. He 

 is currently completing another manuscript on the terrestrial 

 mammals of Afghanistan. 



Page 14 MAY 



recent acquisitions — anthropology 



MRS. A.W.F. FULLER GIVES 

 CARVED LUBA BOWSTAND 



A SCULPTURED bowstand from the Luba people of the Kin- 

 shasa Congo Republic is among miscellaneous objects from 

 the collection of the late Captain A. W. F. Fuller recently 

 acquired by Field Museum as a gift from Mrs. Fuller. 



The bowstand, of carved wood except for a chisel-shaped 

 ferrule at its base, has three prongs radiating from the han- 

 dle. The figure of a woman, decorated with a pattern of 

 body scars characteristic of the Luba, forms the body of the 

 bowstand. 



Among this people of the Upper Lualaba River, sculp- 

 tured items, such as the bowstand, play more than a utili- 

 tarian role. Sculpture incorporating the human figure is 

 believed to be associated with the Luba nobility. 



Some objects closely as- 

 sociated with the Luba chiefs 

 are regarded by the people 

 as having supernatural qual- 

 ities and are handed down as 

 heirlooms to chiefs that fol- 

 low. W. F. P. Burton, a 

 missionary who spent 34 

 years among the Luba, com- 

 mented that "Every chief- 

 tainship has certain objects 

 of veneration, which may be 

 considered as the expression 

 of the very entity of the com- 

 munity." He said that these 

 objects were beyond price 

 and, in addition, any Luba 

 would rather risk his life than 

 let an heirloom fall into the 

 hands of an enemy. 

 Limited information available on the use and social sig- 

 nificance of the bowstand indicates it is set in the grovmd 

 or wall near the bed, where bows, arrows and spears are 

 held by resting them in between the prongs. Responsibility 

 for the weapons and bowstand was given to one of the chiefs 

 first wives, who may also have carried his weapons when 

 he went to war. Among peoples descended from the Luba, 

 bowstands are also kept and transmitted as heirlooms of de- 

 ceased chiefs. 



The bow is the traditional Luba weapon for hunting and 

 war and figures prominently in enthronement rituals. To 

 receive one of the highly prized heirlooms is indicative of 

 the highest esteem of the Luba nobility. Young men wish- 

 ing to have a noble as a patron would present that person 

 with an arrow. 



