36 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.79 



The Andamanese, too, live in constant fear of demons. In such 

 repressive environment art forms can scarcely develop into styles of 

 art. A peculiar form oi ancestor veneration may be noted among 

 the Andamanese in common with primitive peoples elsewhere in the 

 island world of southeastern Asia. Necklaces are made of the bones 

 of dead relatives. Even the skull of a friend or relative is decorated 

 and worn as a pendant. A strange coincidence is the presence of a 

 similar custom reaching their somewhat similar stage of development 

 in the island of New Guinea. As opposed to the use of cicatrization 

 on the part of the dark-skinned primitive peoples, the yellow-skinned 

 peoples of southeastern Asia and of Oceania generally tattooed 

 their faces and bodies. Frequently such designs are symbolical; 

 mostly, however, they are purely decorative. Some are emblematic, 

 showing that the one so marked has achieved majority and is now 

 a full-fledged member of the tribe. 



The Andamanese and the Negritos, the one living north of Sumatra 

 on a small island group in the Bay of Bengal, and the other in the 

 heart of the Malay country in the interior of the Philippine Archi- 

 pelago, in Borneo, and in central New Guinea, live like the Austra- 

 lians, under primitive housing conditions, merely a wind shelter. 

 Being nomadic, they accumulate but little by way of a material cul- 

 ture suitable for application for art designs. The Andamanese have 

 been but little affected by foreign influence, partly due to their iso- 

 lation and to their reputation as fighters and due to their linguistic 

 isolation. But little similarity vrith x4_ustralians may be noted aside 

 from their negroid affiliations, bodilj'- decoration, and the painting 

 of their ornamented objects in red ochre. These may be of practical 

 use or cult objects. Either realism or geometric art patterns are 

 present, however, in minute quantities. It is difficult to include such 

 widely separated peoples as the Negritos, the Andamanese, and the 

 Australian in one art area, although sharing alike in the crudity of 

 their art devices and to some extent in the technic of their applica- 

 tion. 



The Nicoharese. — If we follow the chain of islands connecting the 

 Asiatic mainland with the larger islands of Malaysia we encounter 

 the Nicobar group, which lies off the Malay Peninsula. The people 

 occupying the Nicobar Islands are apparently distinct from the 

 inhabitants of another small island group in the vicinity of the 

 Andamanese. This primitive tribe has quite a developed art complex 

 and ornaments of several descriptions might be mentioned, such as 

 cylindrical ear plugs of wood. They have also developed a technic 

 of painting figures and figurines on wooden boards. This is perhaps 

 a form of mnemonic writing somewhat similar to the pictographs 

 used in the time counts of the Chippewa Indians, xls among the 

 Sinhalese, art is made subservient to the needs of primitive religion. 



