LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Papua New Guinea: Regions
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The two greatest regions for art within Papua New Guinea, the Sepic River Basin and the Papuan Gulf, are completely different in form and style. The Papuans, who were the earliest immigrants to New Guinea, were food gatherers and hunters with relatively simple tools. Despite later migrations, the Papuan influence remained quite strong in the southern side of the central cordillera such that the art form here is basically two-dimensional. The only three dimensional forms in this area are made from the natural branches and roots of the mangrove tree.
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In Papua New Guinea, scarification is usually related to initiation. In the middle Sepik region, it is believed that migrating ancestral crocodiles established human populations. During the wagan initiation ceremony which celebrates the return of the ancestral crocodile, young men from this region are initiated into manhood. The skin on the chest, back and buttocks of the initiate is cut with a bamboo sliver to test their physical strength and self-discipline. The scars, when healed, represent the teeth marks of the crocodile that has swallowed the initiates who are reborn as crocodile-men.
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Sea shells are no longer the currency of Papua New Guinea, as they were in some regions — sea shells were abolished as currency in 1933. However, this heritage is still present in local customs; in some cultures, to get a bride, a groom must bring a certain number of golden-edged clam shells[13] as a bride price. In other regions, bride price is paid in lengths of shell money, pigs, cassowaries or cash; elsewhere, bride price is unknown and it is brides who must pay dowry.
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New Guinea is a seismically active region, the site of an arc-continent collision, where tectonic plates are converging and sliding past each other. The tectonic boundaries and faulting in this region are very complex, as shown below.
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PNG Arts is far and away the best source for collecting art and handicrafts from New Guinea. As we traveled around from region to region, we found artists who offer their wares directly... the obvious difficulties involved in visiting all the parts of New Guinea prohibit all but the most dedicated collector from direct contact with artists in every region.
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