30 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ANATOMICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL 



things prevails upon the Trobriands and upon Murua, whereas on the 

 Marshall Bennets the hair of the natives is often wavy, but it is note- 

 worthy that both the men of the Trobriands group and of Murua 

 are taller than the Marshall Bennet islanders. 



Sociologically the Papuo-Melanesian is characterised by the pos- 

 session of a well-developed system of totemism, with descent in the 

 female line of property and totems in fact by being still in the age of 

 mother-right. Cannibalism, except where it has been stopped by 

 Government influence, is rife ; at Milne Bay the bodies are cut up in 



Fig. 2. Waga at Tubetube, Engineer Group. 



stone circles specially built for this purpose. The marriage laws, at 

 any rate in some parts of the area, approach closely to the Australian 

 type, there being a dual grouping of the clans, each moiety in certain 

 respects resembling an Australian phratry. 



On the technological side the most notable feature of the whole 

 area is the elaborate way in which wood is carved, the predominant 

 note being a conventional reproduction of totem animals, especially 

 totem birds and snakes, the forms of which have often degenerated 

 into the scroll and zigzag patterns so typical of the district. This is 



