The Original Counting Systems of Papua and New Guinea

Abstract

Different groups of Papuans and New Guineans have used a wide variety of devices and techniques, as well as systems of numeration, to tally and, less frequently, to record quantities of goods and multiples of people, shells, days (until a meeting or ceremony), and animals. It is as yet impossible to provide a comprehensive guide to the counting systems of Papua and New Guinea or to provide a key to their geographic distribution as K. W. Galis has done for West Irian. Readers who wish to enquire into the systems employed by specific groups of people or into the distribution of a particular method or device should consult the bibliography that follows. This article is confined to a survey of the kinds of tallying, recording, and counting systems used, with examples only of each major type provided.