Bioma are flat figurative carvings related to hunting and ancestral beings. They were often displayed in conjunction with crocodile and pig skulls in men’s longhouses. Typically these two-dimensional figures have defined, upraised limbs incorporated into the symmetrical design of the entire form. They are often carved from parts of discarded canoes and sometimes have a slight curve to the entire figure. This bioma was collected by the Swiss ethnologist Paul Wirz in 1930. For similar figures collected by Paul Wirz see Vb 8003 and Vb 7422 in the Museum der Kulturen Base. See Paul Wirz. Beiträge zur Ethnographie des Papua-Golfes. Britisch-Neuguinea. Leipzig. B.G. Teubner 1934.
