STONE AGE IN A CIVILIZED WORLD.

The dense forests of Papua are a rich and complicated mosaic of different tribal groups. Far from the coast, at the foothills of the highlands, from an aircraft the land seems like mile after mile of empty barren swamp. But this is where the Kombai have stayed hidden from the outside world for generations, pursuing their ancient way of life as hunter-gatherers.




There are 4,000 or so members of the Kombai, most of whom live in isolated family homesteads in tree houses. As well as providing an escape from the heat and mosquitoes, the tree houses probably originated as their height is a defence against flooding during heavy rains as well as offering protection in times of conflict. Headhunting tribes such as the Asmat from the south used to terrorise these swampy lowlands.



The tribal communities of inland New Guinea were arguably the last peoples on earth to trade in metal goods such as knives or axes. In the remotest parts of this island this is still the case and the local people use stone axes to fell trees, bamboo slivers to slice their meat and traded shells or bamboo to hold their water. Cooking is done without receptacles, but using a method of heated stones.

The Kombai are typical hunter gatherers. The men hunt a wide range of prey including cassowary, wild boar and marsupials in the forest using their bows and arrows with their dogs as trackers Pigs are domesticated for ritual use.



The staple food is starch harvested from sago palms growing wild in the jungle. It takes the women a few hours to drain and dry a few bundles of starch from the palm, and a large tree can provide enough starch to sustain a family for seven to ten days. Usually, dozens of trees are found in the same area. Once they have been used, a family will move to a new location within clan territory. In addition, the sago provides a particular Kombai delicacy: the sago grub, the larva of the Capricorn beetle. A palm is cut down, left for a month, then wrapped in leaves where it continues to rot, during which time the grubs develop within the tree. The Kombai return three months later when the trunk is full of larvae.

The jungle is divided into clan territories. There are also territories of the spirits where no clans live. For a stranger to enter a clan's territory is viewed as a threat - potentially to life itself. It's telling that kwai, which means 'spirit' or 'ghost', is also the word to describe an outsider.

It seems that cannibalism is still carried out by the Kombai. It appears to be a form of tribal punishment: only men identified as witches by the communities - known as Khakhua-Kumu or men who practice witchcraft - are killed and eaten. There are tribe members living who have clearly eaten male witches.