N.G. Mummies
p. 30 · Read in the full issue
From Our Own Correspondent.
WAU, August 21.
ANE of the preserved mummies found by Dr. Atcherley in the caves near Mapos, inland from Salamaua in the Morobe district, has been forwarded to Rabaul for scientific investigation- The caves are now under the protection of the District Officer, as in their present untouched condition they may prove to be an important field for archaelogical research.
Both Mr. F. E. Williams and Dr. Reo Fortune, two well-known anthropologists in the island of New Guinea are of the opinion that the mummified remains are contemporary w r ith the present natives of the district. These experts emphatically disagree with Professor Raymond Firth, of the London Anthropological Society, who advanced the theory that there might be some connection between the New Guinea mummies and the Egyptians.
Dr. Fortune, who recently returned from the Ramu area, considers the mummifi cation to be due to limestone action.
Too much publicity, he said, has been given to a natural geological phenomenon.