424 Mciiioiis Bcniicc P. Bishoj^ Museum 



ORNAMENTS 



The Marquesans compensated fur their simple costmiies l)y the use of a 

 great variety of ornaments, ranging from quickly made necklaces and \\reaths of 

 ferns and flowers to elahorate headdresses whose manufacture nuist have re- 

 quired months of work. Certain ornaments were worn exclusively by men or by 

 women, but it is an interesting commentar\' on the position of the women that 

 many of the most valuable could be worn by either sex. There are some indica- 

 tions of local diflrerences in ornaments, but these are hard to establish at the pres- 

 ent time. 



FLOWERS, HERBS AND FRUITS 



A great variety of wreaths and garlands, made from ferns and from all 

 sorts of flowers and fragrant herbs, were formerly worn by the ]\Iarquesans. 

 This sort of decoration is now limited to wreaths worn on the hair or around the 

 hat. 



^Idst of these wreaths are made from plants chosen for their odor rather tlian their 

 beauty. The finest are made from Guttarda spcciosa which bears a creamy yellow tubular 

 flower of wonderful frag^rance. The calyxes of the flowers are broken off and the tubes 

 threaded upon a string, the base of one flower entering the mouth of the next. The 

 flowers have a peculiar property of increasing in fragrance as they wither and even when dried 

 have a pungent perfume. At the present time the flowers of Gardenia tahifcnsis are much 

 used for wreaths, although this plant is not native to the Marquesas. The calyxes are broken 

 off, but are left suspended by the pistil. The corollas are then threaded. The finished wreath 

 is a white band from which hangs a fringe of bright green calyxes. 



A necklace made from the fragrant ripe fruit of ])andanus [Poiulamis 

 odorafissiiiius] was formerly a favorite ornament of both men and women. 



The fruit looks somewhat like small sweet peppers, with shiny surfaces, l)right red at 

 the u]iper end, shading to lemon yellow at the tip. They were pierced laterally and strung side 

 by side, small ends up. so that they formed a heavy semicircular collar two to three inches wide 

 in the center, tapering toward either end. These ornaments are especially interesting because 

 of their resemblance to a form of wooden gorget. (See p. 429.) 



ORNAMENTS MADE OF HAIR 



Ornaments made from locks of human hair attached to a band of coconut 

 fiber ai"e highly characteristic of the ]\Iarquesan culture ; nothing at all resembling 

 them seems to have been used elsewhere in Oceania. Although these ornaments 

 vary in size according to the part of the body on which they were to be worn, the 

 technicjue is always the same. 



The band to which the locks were attached was composed of a number of strands 

 of twisted coconut fiber, which were iilaited around two heavy longitudinal cords. The 

 method of plaiting was such that at first glance the band seemed to consist of two half- 

 inch ropes, tightly twisted in opposite directions, and fastened side by side. (See PI. 

 L.x.xvi, A.) The hair was made up into a number of small locks which were attached to the 



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