title: Heirlooming and shell money beads in the Solomon Islands

authors: Szabó, Katherine

abstract: Strings of shell money made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of intensively worked shell beads have featured in the accounts of anthropologists of Melanesia for over a century, and large collections of these strings are to be found in major museum collections around the world. In the Solomon Islands, the tradition of their production continues to this day. Despite new strings still entering circulation, within villages in and around Malaita there are also older strings, either held communally or under tabu. Local wisdom states that some of these are around two hundred years old. The historical and anthropological literature also makes mention of heirloom shell money strings, although how long such strings may be curated and remain active in cultural life has never been quantified. Here, we investigate two large, complex shell money strings from the Solomon Islands, held in the collections of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge: one from Makira and the other from Nggela. Through direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of individual beads, we establish the restringing and combining of strings of different ages into new strings, as well as the maintenance in use of individual beads for up to two to three hundred years. This demonstrable case of the heirlooming of shell beads has repercussions for archaeology, and the potential cultural longevity of shell valuables such as these should be a consideration in interpretations.

text: Heirlooming and shell money beads in the Solomon Islands Strings of shell money made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of intensively worked shell beads have featured in the accounts of anthropologists of Melanesia for over a century, and large collections of these strings are to be found in major museum collections around the world. In the Solomon Islands, the tradition of their production continues to this day. Despite new strings still entering circulation, within villages in and around Malaita there are also older strings, either held communally or under tabu. Local wisdom states that some of these are around two hundred years old. The historical and anthropological literature also makes mention of heirloom shell money strings, although how long such strings may be curated and remain active in cultural life has never been quantified. Here, we investigate two large, complex shell money strings from the Solomon Islands, held in the collections of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge: one from Makira and the other from Nggela. Through direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of individual beads, we establish the restringing and combining of strings of different ages into new strings, as well as the maintenance in use of individual beads for up to two to three hundred years. This demonstrable case of the heirlooming of shell beads has repercussions for archaeology, and the potential cultural longevity of shell valuables such as these should be a consideration in interpretations.

year: 2024

title: On the ratio of the sum of divisors and Euler’s totient function II

authors: Broughan, Kevin A.

subjects: Euler’s totient function

abstract: We find the form of all solutions to ø(n) | σ(n) with three or fewer prime factors, except when the quotient is 4 and n is even.

text: On the ratio of the sum of divisors and Euler’s totient function II We find the form of all solutions to ø(n) | σ(n) with three or fewer prime factors, except when the quotient is 4 and n is even.

year: 2014

title: Supervising research in Māori cultural contexts: a decolonizing, relational response

authors: Berryman, Mere

abstract: We have collaborated for 25 years as indigenous Māori and non- Māori researchers undertaking research with Māori families, their schools and communities. We have endeavored to meet our responsibilities to the Māori people (indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand) and communities with whom we have researched, as well as meet the requirements and responsibilities of our academic institutions. In this paper, we reflect on the implications of these responsibilities for our work as supervisors of master’s and doctoral students (Māori and non-Māori) who seek to draw on decolonizing methodologies as they undertake research in Māori cultural contexts. We draw on the experiences and interactions we have had with four different postgraduate students whose research on improving educational outcomes for Māori students has required them to engage and participate in Māori cultural contexts.

text: Supervising research in Māori cultural contexts: a decolonizing, relational response We have collaborated for 25 years as indigenous Māori and non- Māori researchers undertaking research with Māori families, their schools and communities. We have endeavored to meet our responsibilities to the Māori people (indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand) and communities with whom we have researched, as well as meet the requirements and responsibilities of our academic institutions. In this paper, we reflect on the implications of these responsibilities for our work as supervisors of master’s and doctoral students (Māori and non-Māori) who seek to draw on decolonizing methodologies as they undertake research in Māori cultural contexts. We draw on the experiences and interactions we have had with four different postgraduate students whose research on improving educational outcomes for Māori students has required them to engage and participate in Māori cultural contexts.

year: 2017